[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 28th of July, 2024. A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]
There is a growing belief among Americans that church has become irrelevant, that it no longer matters. Many people have been turned off by organized religion of any kind. We’ve seen it in our society, even among those who still call themselves Christians. They’ve just quit attending church services and many church functions. And not because they are physically unable to, but simply because they don’t want to. Some have replaced church attendance with watching a service on TV or over the internet. But that cannot substitute for the love and encouragement and confirmation we receive when we come together as the body of Christ. So these are the believers who have basically given up on the church.
There are also those who don’t exactly believe in Jesus or even profess to be Christian, but who nonetheless expect to spend their future life in heaven, or at least a heaven-like place. They consider themselves good people, who do good in their communities, who help others, who aren’t in it for themselves. They may even think themselves better than most Christians, and indeed they may be, as far as acting out of love for others rather than any personal gain. And since they are good people, and since God loves everyone, they fully expect to go to heaven.
But then there is a group of folks who want to believe, but just can’t seem to do so. They can’t bring themselves to accept that their belief is all that is needed. Can that really be all there is to it? Just believe in God, and in Jesus as His Son, and be spared an eternity in hell? There’s got to be more to it than that.
Well, family, it’s all a matter of faith, of exercising and practicing the faith we’ve been given. When it comes to adhering to religious beliefs and practices, few can rival that of the Jewish people, the Chosen of God. But throughout their history, their collective faith has often faltered.
I want to look back at a time when the Israelites were in their 40 year trek through the wilderness after having been led out of Egypt by Moses. Along the way they began to run out of food and started fussing at Moses for taking them from their comfortable homes just to starve in the desert. So Moses prayed and God began feeding the people with manna, bread from heaven, sent fresh each day. After a while they even resented the manna, their daily bread, and complained about that, too. It’s almost like Moses was having to deal with a million teenagers on a road trip.
Please listen and follow along to what Moses recorded in the 21st chapter of the Book of Numbers, verses 4 through 9, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…
4 Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, 5 and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.8 Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” 9 So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!
--Numbers 21:4-9 (NLT)
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, we thank You for both Testaments of our Holy Bible. Taken together, they serve as our user’s manual to get through this life. They help us better understand Your will in all things. Sadly though, Father, some folks think that the Old Testament is just a history lesson. While it does contain the history of the world and its beginning, it also points to Jesus, as does our reading this morning. Jesus has been with You since before time began and will remain with You long after time ends. And we know You will always be with us. Please help us exercise the faith You have given us. Help us as we step out into the world, offering aid where we can and witnessing to the non-believers, sharing the Good News and showing Your love. Help us spread the message that all anyone has to do is to believe in Jesus and accept Him as Lord and they will have eternal life. And please forgive us when we hesitate to witness for You and our Lord Jesus out of fear or anxiety.
Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today. Thank You for forgiving and forgetting our sin. Help us share the Good News of everlasting life in our daily walk. This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
C. S. Lewis writes, “Believing things 'on authority' only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine percent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there is such a place. I believe it because reliable people have told me so. The ordinary person believes in the solar system, atoms, and the circulation of the blood on authority - because the scientists say so. Every historical statement is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Spanish Armada. But we believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them; in fact, on authority. A person who balked at authority in other things, as some people do in religion, would have to be content to know nothing all his life.”
Believing on authority. We’ve seen very real examples of this in recent years. Some people will believe in anything (like aliens and ghosts) simply because some person they think to be, or who claims to be, 'an authority' says it is so. But they won't believe the eye-witness reports recorded in our Bible. That strikes me as odd, and completely human. We’ll believe in the things we want to believe in, while demanding proof for what we don’t want to believe in.
As believers, we might wonder why anyone would not want to believe in Jesus, especially since doing so brings us eternal life in heaven. Probably because Jesus tells us to rid ourselves of our worldly lusts and desires and give of ourselves in service to Him, helping others. Like the rich young ruler, they don’t want to give up their possessions, or their lusts. So they’ll go on believing in what makes them feel good, condemning themselves in the process.
In our scripture reading, God tells Moses to cast a bronze replica of the poisonous serpents and raise it up onto a pole. Anyone who is bitten by one of the snakes need only look up at the bronze serpent and they will be healed. Jesus referenced this replica serpent when He was speaking with Nicodemus in private. Please listen to the words Jesus spoke to this Pharisee, this Teacher of teachers, as recorded by the Apostle John in the 3rd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 13 through 17…
13 “No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.”
--John 3:13-17 (NLT)
Just as the bronze serpent was lifted up onto a pole so that the Jewish people only need to look at it and be healed, Jesus was lifted up on a cross that all people might be healed if they only look to Him. It’s all a matter of belief, of using the measure of faith God gives each of us. I don’t know for sure, but I bet some number of the bitten Jewish people could not accept that so simple a thing as looking at the replica snake could cure them, and ended up dying a painful death.
Sometimes believing is hard. Some folks who can't or won't believe, who don’t use the faith given to them, demand proof. Count the Pharisees among them. Hear how Jesus responded to their demands as recorded by the Apostle Mark in his Gospel account, chapter 8 verses 11 and 12…
11 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with Him. Testing Him, they demanded that He show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove His authority.12 When He heard this, He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.”
--Mark 8:11-12 (NLT)
Now remember that Jesus went all around the region, even into the Gentile lands, healing people of all manner of illnesses and infirmities, casting out evil spirits, restoring sight and speech and hearing. Yet these cold-hearted religious leaders refused to accept the eyewitness accounts of the people who had seen all this take place. They demanded proof that they could see with their own eyes, right there in front of them, right now.
But if we use our faith to believe, we don't need proof, for we have life through faith. Hear what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, in the 1st chapter of his letter to the Romans, verses 16 and 17…
16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
--Romans 1:16-17 (NLT)
It is through faith that we live. Proof is nice, but we don’t need it to believe in Jesus. We have all we need in our Bibles, and in our hearts. But there are times when our faith might waver, when doubts creep in.
Have you ever felt undeserving of God's mercy and grace, underserving of salvation? Many people, even strong Christians, have. Many wonder, "what did I ever do to deserve this?" Some will claim it can't be this simple, to just believe and be saved. Just look up at the replica snake and be cured. There has to be more to it, doesn't there, more that is required of me to earn entry into heaven?
Well family, sometimes we just have to put reason aside. This is about faith, it's a matter of faith, not reason. Moses told the people to look upon the serpent and believe and be healed. God told the world to look upon His Son Jesus and believe and be healed of sin and eternal death.
It really is that simple. Believe, and be saved. This is the message God gave to us, and the message Jesus commands us to share. Believe and be healed. Believe and be saved. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who came to free us from sin, and who is coming again to judge us all. Amen.
Let us pray… Almighty God, thank You for giving us the faith to believe that Jesus is Your Son, Your Christ, sent to free us from sin. Thank You for giving us the faith to realize it really is that simple, that all we have to do is believe, and in our belief to accept Jesus as our Lord and Master. We understand, though Father, that not everyone can accept this truth. Sometimes folks have doubts, not only about Your Son and Your plan, but even that belief is all that is needed. Some won’t believe without proof. Please forgive us those times when we have doubts, Father, when we think more must be required of us, that we can somehow earn our way into heaven. Forgive us when we don’t share the simple truth. Please help us reach out more into the world, serving others in our service to You. Help us be more forgiving, more merciful in our dealings with others. Guide us around any pitfalls in this life and strengthen our spirits to do Your will. And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.
Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own. Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live. And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…
Lord Jesus, You came to free us of our binds to sin and to offer us salvation. Sometimes we just have trouble believing that so great a gift cost us so little, only our belief in You and accepting You as Lord. You gave of Yourself just for us, that we might live forever with You and our Father God in paradise. Thank You, Jesus! Please help us spread this message. Help us share Your love by being more understanding, more merciful, more giving and forgiving of others, offering aid when we can. Not everyone believes in You, so it is our job to help them see the truth and believe. Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.
Lord Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises. Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares. Help us see though his temptations and all the false teachings. Help us fend off his attacks. Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You. Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another. Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer. This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Amen.
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