The Fruit We Bear

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 20th of October, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

We’ve been talking about God’s Holy Spirit, and mostly about how He lives within those who believe in Jesus as God’s Son and accept Him as their Lord.  Last week we saw that we are baptized by the Spirit when we do accept Jesus, and I touched on the question of how do we show evidence of that baptism.  What is our outward sign of the inward change He brings?  The Apostle Paul gives us the answer.

Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in chapter 5 of his letter to the Galatians, verses 16 through 25, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

--Galatians 5:16-25 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, because You have given us Your Spirit to live within us and be with us always, You want us to live each day as Your Spirit guides us, walking our daily walk as He directs us.  Too often though, Father, we let our flesh direct our path.  The world’s grip on us is still tight.  Please help us to let go of the world and all the temptations it offers.  Help us be true to Your Spirit, and ever faithful to You.

Speak to us now, Father, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us through Your Spirit what You would have us do in our service to You and Jesus so that others may see the fruits of the Spirit we bear.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


In your bulletin you will find an excerpt from Charles Ryrie's book, So Great Salvation.  In that book, Ryrie also answers the question of what fruits might a Christian bear.  Let me summarize his response:

"One, a developing Christian character is fruit.  If the goal of the Christian life may be stated as Christlikeness, then surely every trait developed in us that reflects His character must be fruit that is very pleasing to Him.  Two, right character will result in right conduct, and as we live a life of good works we produce fruit.  Three, those who come to Christ through our witness are fruit.  Four, we may also bear fruit with our lips by giving praise to God and thankfully confessing His name.  Five, we bear fruit when we give money. Paul designated the collection of money for the poorer saints in Jerusalem as fruit."


I think these might better be considered as ways of seeing the fruits of the Spirit at work.  Note in the bulletin insert that Ryrie also says we might not be able to see or discern another person's fruit.  But we should definitely be able to discern the fruits within ourselves.  God certainly can, for He can see into our hearts.


In our scripture, Paul describes how God’s Holy Spirit battles against the flesh, and especially the lusts or desires of the flesh.  He says the two are contrary to one another, and because of that inner struggle we too often do not do the things we really wish to do.

Paul himself suffered from this conflict.  In chapter 7 of his letter to the Romans, he basically says that he does not do the things he wants to do, but does the things he does not want to do.  In other words, he doesn’t want to sin, but he can’t seem to help but sin.  We know how that is, don’t we?  We don’t want to hate other people, but there are some we just can’t seem to help but hate.

Paul goes on to list some of the evidence of the flesh at work, such as acts of adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, magic, hatred, contentiousness, jealousy, outbursts of temper, greed, envy, murder… and the list goes on and on.  I think we can call these the fruits of the flesh.  Then Paul lists some of the fruits of the Spirit, evidence of the Spirit at work within us: love, joy, peace, great patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, meekness, self-control.

Our congregational reading this morning speaks of the fruits of God’s Holy Spirit, doesn’t it?  Loving others, striving to understand them.  Being humble, doing what we do as a sign of thanks and gratitude to our Father God rather than to receive praise or glory for ourselves.  Seeking God’s help, especially when we feel we can’t go on, rather than rely solely on our own resources.  Remembering that God loves all of His creation, much more than we ever could.


Now as in so many instances, what Paul wrote to the Galatians is actually based on something that Jesus said during His ministry on earth.  And this just goes to show how much Jesus shared with Paul while he was blinded, how great an insight Jesus gave him, since the pre-conversion Saul never walked with Jesus and in fact worked against the church!

Listen to what Jesus said during His “Sermon on the Plain”, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in his Gospel account, chapter 6 verses 43 through 45…

43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

--Luke 6:43-45 (NKJV)

Jesus says a tree is known by its fruit.  Not only that, but a good tree will not bear bad fruit.

Does this conflict with what Paul said about too often giving in to the desires of the flesh rather than the leadings of the Spirit, of sinning even when we don’t want to?  I don’t think so.  Jesus states that a good person, out of the goodness of their heart, will do good.  But those with evilness in their heart will do evil.  What is in our heart makes all the difference.  And even though as Ryrie noted we may not be able to see into another person’s heart, God can.  God knows if we are good or evil at heart.

Our sins, our doing wrong when we want to do right, are forgiven and washed away by the blood of Jesus.  We just need to be extra careful not to keep doing the same things, the same sin, over and over.


God knows our hearts.  He knows if His Spirit is indeed within us.  We can’t hide from Him, nor can we fake His Spirit’s effect on our lives.

There are many good people in this world who do good things, who exhibit signs that we could see as fruits of the Spirit within them, yet are damned to eternal torment because of their unbelief.  If they do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God, if they do not accept Him as their Lord and Master, following Him, obeying Him, then God’s Spirit is not within them and they are condemned, no matter how much good they do!  God sees all, God knows all, God cannot be fooled.


Family, we need to take a close look at ourselves, a close inward look.  Can we see the fruits of God’s Spirit within us?  Can we see evidence of His influence in our daily lives?  To put it bluntly, coming to church on Sundays and sitting in the pews listening to a sermon does not make a person a Christian any more than sitting in a garage going “vroom-vroom” makes them a car!  If a person is not truly a Christian, a follower of Christ, then the Spirit of God is not within them, no matter what they do!

God’s Spirit can make the evil heart good.  He will lead us to do good, to do as Jesus wants us to do, if we just follow His lead.  We just need to believe.  We just need to let go of the world and give ourselves over to the Spirit within us.

Let go and let God.  Believe in Jesus, follow the Spirit, do good, please God.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, when we accept Jesus as Your Son, You give us the wonderful gift of Your Holy Spirit to live within us, to lead us, to guide us, to always be with us.  If we just follow Your Spirit’s lead, we could break away from the binds of our fleshly desires that tie us to the world.  But too often we do what we really don’t want to do, down in our hearts.  The temptations of the world are very strong and alluring.  Help us, please Father, to resist Satan’s pull, to turn from those temptations, to walk as Your Spirit directs us.  Help us to bear the fruits of Your Spirit that the world might see You in us and all we do.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, those who believe in You have God’s Spirit within us.  You washed us clean of our sin, but that does not give us license to keep on sinning, to go on living like nothing has changed.  God’s Spirit will change us.  We just need to follow His directions.  Thank You, Jesus, for offering us salvation.  Please help us show our gratitude by doing as the Spirit leads, by showing His fruits in all we do.  Help us to live and walk in the Spirit each and every day.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

The Spirit and Jesus

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 13th of October, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

I’m sure you remember the story of John, a kinsman of (and born just a few months before) Jesus.  We call him the Baptist, for he lived out in the wilds, along the Jordan River, preaching repentance and baptizing people from Jerusalem and all over Judea.

Now Jesus didn’t begin His actual ministry, not in earnest, until He was around 30 years old, and it started with John there at the River Jordan.  Please listen and follow along to the enormously important event the Apostle Matthew recorded for us in chapter 3 of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

Make His paths straight.’”

4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

--Matthew 3 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You announced to all who could hear that day that Jesus was Your beloved Son, in whom You were well pleased.  Those words were recorded and saved for us by one of His closest followers, Matthew, so that we could hear Your announcement, too.  This is huge!  This is momentous!  Because of this announcement, there should be no reason for anyone to doubt the authenticity and authority of Jesus, nor to reject Him as Lord.  Because to do so is to reject You.  Please help us truly understand what it means to accept Jesus, to believe in Him as Your Son and our Master.  Speak to us now, Father, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us what You would have us do in our service to You and Jesus.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


Gregory of Nazianzus was a 4th century Archbishop of Constantinople and noted theologian.  Much of his work, which continues to influence theologians today, regarded the relationship among the three Persons of God - the Trinity.  Gregory wrote:

The deity of the Holy Spirit ought to be clearly recognized in Scripture.  Look at these facts: Christ is born; the Spirit is His forerunner.  Christ is baptized; the Spirit bears witness.  Christ is tempted; the Spirit leads Him up.  Christ ascends; the Spirit takes His place.  What great things are there in the character of God which are not found in the Spirit?  What titles which belong to God are not also applied to Him?  He is called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the mind of Christ, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of adoption, of truth, of liberty; the Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, of godliness, of the fear of God.  This only begins to show how unlimited He is.


God is infinite, without limits, and so is His Spirit.  As Gregory noted, scripture from both testaments bear this out.  God is all-powerful, and so is His Spirit.  And God’s Spirit lives within us.  Doesn’t that imply that we, through God’s Holy Spirit within us, might also be all-powerful and without limits?  That, my dear brothers and sisters, is a very humbling thought.


Matthew opens chapter 3 by telling us that, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’”  And then one day Jesus walked up and the Kingdom of heaven was indeed at hand, and standing right there in front of him.  Although John thought it highly inappropriate that he should be baptizing the Christ, he did so because Jesus asked him to.

And then came that announcement to the world, heard and recorded so that no one should doubt, no one should refuse to believe or accept, yet some still do.  God recognized Jesus as His own Son, His beloved Son, and said so!  Not only that, He sent His Spirit to alight on Jesus in a visible appearance like a dove.

How can anyone not believe?  Why can’t they see that rejecting Jesus is rejecting God Himself?


A few weeks ago we looked at the Spirit's role as regards Jesus.  In our scripture reading this morning, we can see how He came to Jesus the Man in the first place.  But what we may have missed is that God promised to send His Spirit to Jesus long, long before Jesus came to earth as one of us.

The prophet Isaiah foretold this over 600 years before Jesus was born, that Jesus would bear God’s Spirit.  Opening the 11th chapter of his book of prophecy, Isaiah wrote in verses 1 and 2…

1 There shall come forth a Shoot from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

--Isaiah 11:1-2 (NKJV)

There’s some of those descriptions of the Holy Spirit that Gregory mentioned in my illustration at the start.  The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might and knowledge.  The Spirit of the Lord.

We know that Jesus was born of the line of Jesse, and Matthew told of God’s Spirit coming down and resting upon Him.  Oh, and there’s a little bit more of what we’ve talked about recently that Isaiah verifies.  Some time back, I mentioned how God's plan all along included salvation for the Gentiles.  Well, Isaiah spoke that promise for God, also, and again, long before Jesus came to us as a Man.

Starting in chapter 42 of his book of prophecy, Isaiah refers to the Christ as being the Servant of God, with a capital “S”.  He introduces us to the Servant in verse 1 with these words…

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles."

--Isaiah 42:1 (NKJV)

God’s Servant, His Elect One, in whom His soul delights.  “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”  The very same sentiment, if not the same words, yet recorded nearly 700 years apart.  And “He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles”.  What greater justice is there than salvation?


God’s Spirit came to Jesus and through the Spirit Jesus was able to do wondrous things, to perform incredible miracles, even to return life to the dead.  I think it a miracle that Jesus could stand out in the open, on level ground or a mountainside, and speak and thousands of people could hear and understand Him, seemingly with no trouble.  I have to use a microphone and amplification just to be heard clearly in the back of this sanctuary!

God’s Spirit empowered Jesus to serve God.  The same Spirit now lives within us.  The same power, wisdom, counsel, understanding, might, godliness, and knowledge is available to us, within us.  Now we may or may not be able to perform miraculous acts, but with the Spirit always at our side, we should never be afraid to try.  If the power would suddenly go out, I know the Spirit would help me be heard by everyone here.  I may not be able to raise someone from the dead, but I can help keep them alive within the hearts of their loved ones.

The thing is, the Spirit is within us to help us serve God, and God doesn’t really give us the tough jobs that He gave Jesus.  Our tasks, for the most part, are much easier, requiring less a miracle, but more a determination on our part to do what God would have us do.

We are the beloved sons and daughters of God.  How pleased He is with us, how delighted He is, I think depends on how well we strive to serve Him.  If our baptism by water is an outward sign of our inward commitment to Jesus, then how do we outwardly show evidence of our baptism by God’s Spirit?  By humbly serving God, just as Jesus did.

Let’s give the Spirit free rein to work within us, empowering us, emboldening us.  Believe in Jesus, feel the Spirit, serve God.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You announced that Jesus was Your own beloved Son, and then You sent Your Holy Spirit to rest upon Him and empower Him in His ministry.  This should have been all people needed, or need today, to believe in Jesus and accept Him as Lord.  But too many don’t.  They reject Him, and they reject You.  Help us, please Father, in our belief.  Help us stay strong and faithful in the face of so much disbelief around us.  Empower us through Your Spirit in our service to You.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, for those who believe, there is no doubt that You are God’s beloved Son.  And through You, we who believe have the same Spirit living within us that rested upon You and empowered You during Your ministry on earth, the same Spirit that took part in the creation of all there is, the same Spirit that raised You from the dead.  Thank You, Jesus, for asking God to send His Spirit to us.  Please help us to not only heed the Spirit, but to allow Him to use us in service to You and our Father God.  Help us feel His power and use His power, that we may carry out the task God has given us.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

The Cleansing Blood

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 6th of October, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Today's service included the observance of Holy Communion.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Last week I got a little ahead of myself when I mentioned that the previous week we had looked at one reason Jesus had to die.  And then I went on to talk about the second reason - so that the Holy Spirit could come to believers.  So if you were confused, it’s understandable, because I’m actually going to look at the first reason today.  And I’ll let the author of the Letter to the Hebrews provide our explanation.  Please listen and follow along to what he tells us in chapter 9, verses 6 through 28, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…

6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests would regularly go into the first part, conducting the services of God. 7 But only the high priest went into the second part once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people, committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was signifying through this that the way into the Most Holy Place was not yet revealed, because the first part of the tabernacle was still standing. 9 This is an illustration for the present time, showing that the gifts and sacrifices offered could not perfect the conscience of those who worshipped, 10 since they are concerned only with foods and drinks, ceremonial cleansings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

11 But Christ, when He came as a High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, 12 neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies so that the flesh is purified, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15 For this reason He is the Mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the sins that were committed under the first covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

16 For where there is a will, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a will has force after men are dead, since it has no force at all while the testator lives. 18 So not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when Moses had taught every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep.” 21 Likewise he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of worship with blood. 22 And according to the law almost everything must be cleansed with blood; without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

23 It was therefore necessary that the replicas of heavenly things be cleansed with these sacrifices, but that the heavenly things themselves be cleansed with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, which are patterned after the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. 25 Nor did He enter to offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 For then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the world was created, but now He has appeared once at the end of the ages to put away sin by sacrificing Himself. 27 As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this comes the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to save those who eagerly wait for Him.

--Hebrews 9:6-28 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your true tabernacle is in heaven, where Jesus sits at your right hand.  Anything we have on earth is a mere shadow, corruptible instead of incorruptible.  Please help us grasp the difference.  And especially, please help us understand exactly why it was necessary for Your Son to sacrifice Himself, and what that blood offering means to us.  Speak to us now, Father, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us what You would have us do in our service to You and Jesus.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


The magazine, Today in the Word, carried this little story in its November 14, 1993 issue:

Three times a month, Jermaine Washington and Michelle Stevens get together for what they call a "gratitude lunch." With good reason! Washington donated a kidney to Stevens, whom he described as "just a friend." They met at work where they used to have lunch together. One day Michelle wept as she spoke about waiting on a kidney donor list for 11 months. She was being sustained by kidney dialysis, but suffered chronic fatigue and blackouts and was plagued by joint pain. Because Washington couldn't stand the thought of watching his friend die, he gave her one of his kidneys. When you've got something great to be thankful for, having a "gratitude lunch" is a great way to celebrate.


This morning we will come to our Lord's table for the sacrament of Holy Communion.  We will eat and drink in remembrance of the sacrifice Jesus made just for us.  Because of that sacrifice, and all God's blessings, we have much to be thankful for.  So consider this our "gratitude lunch".


Our scripture reading this morning was long and filled with much information.  First we must realize that the entire book of Hebrews is all about Jesus, and about His superiority in all things.  So in our passage, the author is comparing the old covenant God made with mankind, and the laws handed down through Moses, with the new covenant that Jesus brought to us.

In the old, only the high priest could enter the Holiest Place in the tabernacle, which itself was merely a replica of what is in heaven.  There the priest would cleanse all the earthly things with sacrificial blood, to wash away his sins and those of the people.  The old covenant required him to do this once a year.

Only blood can wash away sin.  Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.  God spoke through Moses to explain why, in Leviticus chapter 17 verse 11…

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

--Leviticus 17:11 (MEV)

It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul, that allows forgiveness of our sin.  But Jesus is a much greater High Priest.  He does not enter into the holiest place made by human hands, but into the actual tabernacle in heaven, into God’s very presence.  And His sacrifice, of His own blood, is not sprinkled once a year, but was poured out one time for all time, and for all people.

Only the blood of the Spotless, completely Innocent Lamb can wash away our sin.  Jesus made that sacrifice for us, for you and for me, so that we could be washed clean and appear spotless when we stand before God.  And once He made it, His job on earth was done.  Listen to what the Apostle John recorded in the 19th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 28 through 30…

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

--John 19:28-30 (NKJV)

“It is finished!”  The task God assigned Jesus was completed - to enter into the Most Holy Place and there to sacrifice Himself so that we could be washed clean of our sin.  Once, for all.


We come to our Lord’s table, to eat of His body, broken for us, to drink from the cup of His blood, shed for us.  Jesus is the new covenant between God and mankind!  His own blood sealed that covenant.  We take of His body and His blood to remember… to remember the sacrifice, to remember the covenant, to remember the importance of keeping up our end.

Believe in Jesus, obey His voice, and be saved.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You knew mankind would never be able to meet its end of Your first covenant with us, the Law, but we had to realize it for ourselves.  Like the rich young ruler, we thought we were obeying you perfectly, even in the depths of our sin.  So You gave us another chance and a better way to be cleansed of our sin.  You gave us Your Son, who washed us clean with His own precious blood.  Help us, please Father, to understand the great importance of this act of mercy and grace.  Help us always remember and hold dear just what Jesus did for us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You are the perfect Spotless Lamb, the greatest High Priest.  You entered into the true tabernacle of God and gave a blood sacrifice on our behalf, so that our sins could be forgiven.  You who were without sin took all our sins upon Yourself, so that we could be seen as clean in our Father God’s eyes.  Thank You, Jesus, for suffering for us, for giving of Yourself for us.  Please help us to fully grasp why You had to suffer and die.  Help us understand what Your sacrifice means to us.  Help us to follow You, to obey You, to see You as our Lord and Master.  And may we never forget or take for granted Your great love that led You to so selfless a sacrifice.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.

The Spirit's Role

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 29th of September, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

We’ve been talking about God’s Holy Spirit the last few weeks now.  We took note of His presence and His part in the creation of the universe and all within it.  We’ve looked mostly at how He has interacted in the lives of mankind.  We saw how He touched specific people as directed by God to help them in the tasks God assigned them.  And we celebrated in His coming to live within all believers, to be our ever-present Guide and Companion.

But today I want us to understand what I think is the greatest role the Holy Spirit plays.  Please listen and follow along to the Gospel account of the Apostle John, chapter 16, verses 7 through 15, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”

--John 16:7-15 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your Holy Spirit has played a crucial role throughout the history of our universe.  From the creation on, He has helped us, guided us, led us in our tasks serving You.  And now, Father, He even lives within those who believe in and follow Your Son Jesus.  Please help us to not only recognize Your Spirit within us, but to do as He directs us.  Please help us to glorify Jesus just as does Your Spirit.  Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us Your will for our lives, and the role You would have us fill.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


James Packer, in his book Your Father Loves You, describes the Holy Spirit's distinctive role in relation to Jesus as that of being a floodlight.  Packer wrote: "When floodlighting is done well, the floodlights are placed so that you do not see them; in fact, you are not supposed to see where the light is coming from; what you are meant to see is just the building on which the floodlights are trained.  The intended effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness, and to maximize its dignity by throwing all its details into relief so that you can see it properly."

Packer continues: "It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder on to Jesus who stands facing us. The Spirit's message to us is never, 'Look at Me; listen to Me; come to Me; get to know Me', but always, 'Look at Him, and see His glory; listen to Him and hear His word; go to Him and have life; get to know Him and taste His gift of joy and peace.'"


Isn’t that a great way to describe the role of God’s Spirit?  Shining a spotlight on Jesus.  We tend to consider the Spirit to be our Helper, our Companion, our Guide through this life.  But even in those roles, He is showing the way to Jesus, highlighting Jesus, calling attention to Jesus.

In this regard, I think we – all who profess Jesus as Lord -  we should all try to be more like the Holy Spirit.  We should make it our primary role and duty to shine a light on Jesus, to show the way to Him and the salvation He offers, to let others see Him in us and in our actions, in our love.  We should gladly proclaim, “Look at Jesus and see His glory!  Listen to Him and hear His word.  Go to Him and have life.  Get to know Him, and taste His gift of joy and peace.”


One thing people often wonder is why did Jesus have to suffer and die.  Last week we answered part of that.  He had to sacrifice Himself so that His blood could atone for our sins and bring us God’s forgiveness.  But in our scripture reading this morning, we see another reason.  Jesus tells His disciples that He must return to His Father in heaven so that God’s Holy Spirit can come to all believers.

In the first part, Jesus relates a crucial task the Spirit will carry out.  He will convict the world – the entire world, all mankind who do  not believe Jesus is God – of sin and righteousness.  He will judge the world because the world’s ruler – Satan – is judged.  In the second part, Jesus shares what the Spirit will do for us – guiding us, helping us, revealing some of God’s mysteries to us as we are able to grasp them.

Then comes the part that James Packer described in my little illustration at the start.  The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus.  He shines all the light, all the attention, on Jesus.  He does nothing on His own but acts only under the authority of God Almighty.

And in verse 15, Jesus says that everything our Father God has – which is indeed everything – also belong to Jesus, and that the Spirit will take from what is His and make it available to us.  In other words, all that the Spirit does for us – the guidance, the strength and power, the instruction and comfort – all of this first belonged to Christ Jesus and is now given to us through the Spirit!  And that is a very humbling thought, that we have been given what God gave His Son.


This isn’t the only time Jesus told us of the Spirit’s coming, nor even the first.  In chapter 14 of John’s Gospel account, verses 25 and 26, Jesus told His disciples, and us…

25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

--John 14:25-26 (NKJV)

Note what Jesus said there: the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us of all the things that Jesus said to us.  The Spirit will be focused on Jesus, not Himself.

And again, a little later in John’s account, chapter 15 verse 26, Jesus reminds us…

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."

--John 15:26 (NKJV)

The Spirit of truth, who comes from God.  He will bring the truth, will speak the truth of Jesus, will testify of Jesus, be a witness for Jesus!  The Spirit glorifies Jesus; shines all the light on Him.


There’s one last piece of scripture I’d like to share with you, and one which is important for us to grasp.  This comes from the Apostle Luke, written in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, from the book’s opening in chapter 1, verses 4 through 8…

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

--Acts 1:4-8 (NKJV)

Most of us have been baptized by water.  It is our outward sign of our inward commitment to Jesus, or the sign made for us by our parents.  But we have also been baptized by God’s Holy Spirit, when we committed ourselves to serve our Lord, when the Spirit came to dwell within us.  We have received the power of the Holy Spirit, the power that belonged to Jesus.

And here’s the kicker…  Now it is up to us to be witnesses to Jesus, in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  Just as does the Holy Spirit, we are to glorify Jesus, shine the floodlight on Him.  We are to testify to Him, witness to Him, by our words and our life.

By our service and our love we can give our testimony.  Be a floodlight, be a witness, glorify Jesus.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You have given us Your own Holy Spirit to live within us, to guide us and help us and be our constant Companion.  Help us, please Father, to emulate Your Spirit, to do as He does and glorify Your Son, our Lord Jesus.  Help us to follow the direction Your Spirit leads us so that we too can testify to Jesus to all the earth.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You had to leave us so that the Spirit could come.  Thank You, Jesus, for so great a gift, and for the wonderful opportunity to serve You by shining a light on You, just as the Spirit does.  Please help us to glorify You, Lord, and only You.  Help us to be a better witness for You, in our actions, our deeds, and our words.  Help us to serve You as the Spirit serves.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.

The Holy Spirit Comes

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 22nd of September, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Do you remember the story of the Roman centurion named Cornelius?  Cornelius was a devout man who feared God, prayed to God, and gave generously to the people, even though he was a Gentile.  One day, an angel of God came to him in a vision and instructed him to send for Simon Peter to come and speak with his household.  The angel said that Peter would tell Cornelius what he must do.  So Cornelius did just as instructed, sending two loyal servants and a devout soldier to seek Peter and implore him to come.

While they traveled, Peter also had a vision, where he was shown a giant sheet upheld at the four corners coming down to the earth.  On the sheet were every type and manner of creature in God’s creation.  Then Peter hears the voice of Jesus telling him to kill and eat of the beasts.  Peter protests, saying he cannot eat anything common or unclean.  Jesus replies that what God has cleansed can no longer be considered common or unclean.

When the emissaries from Cornelius arrive, Peter accompanies them back to Caesarea.  As he entered the centurion’s home and saw all the people who had gathered there to hear him, he spoke words that should be a key for us:  "God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean."  For the rest of the story, please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Luke recorded for us in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, verses 34 through 48, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ — He is Lord of all — 37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And the Jews who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

--Acts 10:34-48 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your word saved for us in our Bibles is for our instruction.  It tells us how we should feel and think and believe, and how to act on our faith.  Father, we can be so blind and too often so stubborn as to what we should do in our service to You.  Please help us see other people as You see them.  Please help us understand that we should not call any man unclean or common.  For we don’t always know who You might already have cleansed.  Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us Your will for our lives, our role in Your plan.  This we pray in the glorious name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


What does it mean to us to have God's Holy Spirit come to us, to be in us?  Andrew Murray was a South African pastor and son of a Dutch Reformed Church pastor sent as a missionary to South Africa.  Murray once said, "May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love and joy of God's presence and not a moment without the entire surrender of my self as a vessel for Him to fill full of His Spirit and His love."

Consider Murray’s statement for a moment, and then think of what it would be like not to have the light, the love, and the joy of God's presence with us always.  What if we were not willing to surrender ourselves entirely so that we could be fully filled by the Spirit and His love?  Or worse, what if God had not sent His Spirit to live within any of us?


In our scripture reading this morning, we see the Gentiles in the household of Cornelius receiving God’s Holy Spirit, to live within them.  This is of the greatest importance to us, as I believe we here at Pilgrim are all Gentiles.

First, Jesus let Peter know that we should not consider anyone to be “common”, or “unclean” in any manner.  After all, God may have already cleansed them, so we should never call them unclean, and never consider anyone “common” because that would be putting ourselves over them, superior to them.  And then God showed Peter that all people – Jew and Gentile – can receive the indwelling Holy Spirit if they accept His Son Jesus as Lord and Master.


God’s indwelling Spirit…  Do you recall my saying a few weeks ago that before the Pentecost, God’s Spirit only came to special people at God’s direction, helping them with tasks God had assigned.  The Spirit did not live within anyone.  But then, in Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, Luke tells us…

1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

--Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV)

This was the first Pentecost, the first instance recorded in our Bible of the Spirit coming down to live within mankind, as our constant Companion and Guide.  It is also occasionally called the Jewish Pentecost, as those filled by the Spirit that day were Jews.  What happened at the home of Cornelius is sometimes referred to as the Gentile Pentecost, since the Spirit came into only the Gentiles that day.

There is one other recorded event in our Bible that some consider the second Pentecost, and this one occurred to the Samaritans, so is referred to as the Samaritan Pentecost.  After Christ’s execution and resurrection, His disciple Philip left Jerusalem and went through Samaria, preaching the Gospel and all about Jesus.  Many listened, believed, and were saved.  Here is how Luke tells it, in chapter 8 of his Book of Acts, verses 5 through 7 and verse 12…

5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 

--Acts 8:5-7, 12 (NKJV)

In the Jewish world-view, there are two kinds of people:  Jews and Gentiles.  The Samaritans were considered the black sheep of the Israeli family, not quite Jew but not quite Gentile.  Since God wanted to make sure that all the world’s people could be included in His plan of salvation,  He sent His Spirit to dwell in every possible class of people: Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles.  Jesus came to offer salvation to all of mankind.

Of course, not everyone accepts Him as Lord and Master, not everyone acknowledges Him as the one true Son of God, not everyone recognizes Him as the Christ, the Messiah.  But those who do are saved and receive God’s Holy Spirit as their own personal indwelling Companion, Helper, Counselor, and Guide.

It doesn’t matter if we are Jew or Samaritan or Gentile.  It doesn’t matter our race or ethnicity or country of origin.  It doesn’t matter our gender or age or physical appearance.  God knows no borders, prefers no race, has no favorites.  He calls us all to be His, to join His family.  It’s up to us to answer that call by giving ourselves to Christ Jesus.


God sent His Son into this world to carry out His great plan that all the world might be saved.  And if that weren’t enough, God sent His own Holy Spirit to live within the very hearts of believers.  For each new believer, when anyone first professes Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit comes.

The Holy Spirit comes to all who follow Jesus, since God plays no favorites.  With His Spirit living within us, we should mimic our Father God and show no favoritism, too.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You have no favorites but want all of mankind to be saved.  Your Holy Spirit moves among men, convicting us of our sins, showing us Jesus and the way of the cross, calling us to a higher faith.  And Your Spirit comes down to live within all those who believe in Jesus and accept Him as Lord.  Help us, please Father, to fully accept the leadership and counsel Your Spirit offers.  Help us to accept His authority and to recognize His voice.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, all who believe in You and accept You as Lord have God’s own Holy Spirit living within us.  Thank You, Jesus, for offering salvation to all.  Please help us to truly be Yours, Lord.  Help us to obey Your commands and to remain faithful no matter what we face.  Help us to heed the directions the Spirit gives us.  And help us to make more disciples so that the Spirit may come to them as well.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.

Led By the Spirit

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 15th of September, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

You’ve heard me say before that I was led by the Spirit to do something, or that I felt the Spirit prod me or nudge me.  I’ve never “heard” Him speak, either physically through my ears or even just in my head.  But I’ve certainly felt His active presence.

Well, according to the Apostle Luke, in his narrative to Theophilus, God’s Holy Spirit spoke to the early church leaders and told them exactly what they should do.  Please listen and follow along to what Luke recorded for us in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 13, verses 1 through 5, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.

--Acts 13:1-5 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your Spirit acts on Your behalf, delivering Your messages and carrying out the tasks You assign Him.  Because of Your blessing and adoption of us into Your family, Your Spirit lives within us and can speak to us all the time.  Father, please help us recognize when He is trying to tell us something.  Help us to not only hear but to follow what He tells us to do, just as did the early church leaders.  Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Separate us from the world and send us where You would have us go.  This we pray in the glorious name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


American academic, professor Myron Rush, once identified tough issues facing every Christian leader:

• You must be willing to stand alone.
• You must be willing to go against public opinion in order to promote what you believe.
• You must be willing to risk failure.
• You must become master of your emotions.
• You must strive to remain above reproach.
• You must be willing to make decisions others don't want to make.
• You must be willing to say no at times, even when you'd like to say yes.
• You must sometimes be willing to sacrifice personal interests for the good of the group.
• You must never be content with the average; you must always strive for the best.
• People must be more important to you than possessions.
• You will have to work harder to keep your life in balance than people do who are not leaders.

Can you relate to those?  Many of them apply not only to the Christian leader, but to any Christian in general, anyone who is truly trying to follow Christ Jesus in how they live.  And really, all Christians are leaders, in a way.  We’re trying to lead the lost back to Jesus.

I'd like to add one more item to that list:  You must be willing to be led by a higher authority - you must accept the leadership of God's Holy Spirit.  I think all of those attributes can clearly be applied to the Apostle Paul.  And especially the part I added, about accepting the leadership of God’s Spirit.

Throughout the Book of Acts and from references in his letters, we see Paul being led by the Holy Spirit.  He is shown where to go, and directed in what to do.  In Acts chapter 18, verses 5 and 6, we see an instance where the Spirit nudged Paul…

5 When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. 6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

--Acts 18:5-6 (NKJV)

Family, this represents a crucial turning point for us.  Now this was God’s plan all along, that salvation not only be available to His chosen people, the children of Israel, but to all people, the Gentiles as well.  We see this evident even back in the Old Testament of our Bible, when the great prophet Isaiah spoke for God as He promised salvation to all, in the first 8 verses of chapter 56.

But here we see quite clearly that Jesus and the Good News He brings were rejected by the very people He came to save.  So the man who was separated by the Spirit in the first place was then given the task to carry out God’s fuller plan by carrying the Gospel to the Gentiles.


Sometimes the Holy Spirit would not only tell Paul where to go, but He would also block the Apostle from going into places or from doing things when it was not yet time for them, according to God’s plan.  One such example can be found a little earlier, in Acts chapter 16, verses 6 through 8, when Luke tells us…

6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

--Acts 16:6-8 (NKJV)

At this point, Paul is being accompanied by Silas on his missions, after he and had Barnabas parted ways.  These two were joined in Lystra by Timothy, and the three continued going from town to town preaching the Gospel and making disciples.  Their path took them east, into Asia, but the Spirit stopped them from preaching in any town there.  Reaching Mysia, they tried to enter the region of Bithynia and Pontus, but were blocked by the Spirit from doing so.  The time just wasn’t right yet.


We Americans are an independent lot.  We don’t like being told what to do, by anyone.  We elect people to represent us, but then bicker with them if they don’t do exactly what we want them to do.

Society as a whole is very “self” conscious today.  The self is supremely important, the individual is all that matters.  No one wants to be held accountable for anything.  There is no absolute right or wrong, so what feels best for the individual at any time must be right.  To think otherwise would be harmful to that individual, and would not be a very loving, Christian way to act.

Well, the thing is, if we are indeed a Christian, a true follower of Christ, then we know we are accountable to a higher authority: God.  We also have the active, living, life-giving emissary of that authority living within us: God’s Holy Spirit.  God has a plan, and the Spirit works to see that plan carried out.  Just as He did for Paul, the Spirit will guide us and show us where we should go and what we should do in our service to God.  He will also try to block us from going somewhere we should not go and from doing things we should not do.

But the kicker is, we have to be willing to listen!  Just as did Paul and his companions, we have to do what the Spirit says, go where He leads us, speak and act as He directs us.  And just as importantly, we also have to listen and heed Him when He tries to block us!

I’m sure we’ve all said things we wish we could unsay.  If we had given the Spirit a moment to guide us, we might not have said them.  And haven’t we all been somewhere we shouldn’t have gone, done something we shouldn’t have done, and regretted it later?

The Spirit will keep us from straying if we let Him!  We must accept the authority and leadership of God’s Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide us as we walk through this life.

If we are to help lead others to Christ, we must allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit.  Submit to His leadership.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, since the dawn of existence, You have sent Your Holy Spirit to accomplish Your will among men.  And then, at Your Son’s request, You sent Your Spirit to live within us as our constant, ever-present Guide.  Help us, please Father, to accept the leadership Your Spirit offers.  Help us to accept His authority and to recognize His voice.  And Father, most of all, help us to serve You by doing what He says, by going where He tells us, by following His lead in all areas of our life.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, because of You, we have God’s own Holy Spirit living within us.  Thank You, Lord, for caring so much about us that You made sure we would never be alone.  Please help us to truly be Yours, Lord.  Help us to obey Your commands and to remain faithful no matter what we face.  Help us to heed the directions the Spirit gives us.  And in this way, we can serve You and accomplish God’s will.

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

More Than A Clean House

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 8th of September, 2019 - Homecoming Sunday at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

When we came in this morning, we found a nice, clean church home, didn’t we?  For those who have been away for a while, isn’t it reassuring to know we still keep a tidy house for worship?  We can thank Richard and Robin Beck for the great bulk of that.  All of this is physical: this sanctuary, this building.  And even though it requires a good bit of physical work, it’s still relatively easy to keep it clean.

But there is one home that isn’t so easy to keep clean, and that one is spiritual.  It is the home of God’s Holy Spirit.  Unfortunately, other spirits can move in too.  Please listen and follow along to what Jesus tells us as recorded in the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 12, verses 31 and 32, 36 and 37, and 43, 44, and 45, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

36 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

--Matthew 12:31-32; 36-37; 43-45 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You are willing to forgive us of any disobedience except for any grievous sin against Your most Holy Spirit.  You will forgive us even if we speak out against Your Son Jesus, but any thoughts, words, or deeds against Your Spirit will not be forgiven.  Father, Your Spirit lives within each of us that believes in Your Son Jesus and follows Him.  Please help us keep His home clean.  Help us be pure of heart, loving and forgiving as we are loved and forgiven.

Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Imprint Your words on our hearts as a sign to Your Spirit that reads, “Home, Sweet Home”.  This we pray in the holy name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


In the 1800's, Charles Finney was an American Presbyterian minister and a leader in what is called the Second Great Awakening in the United States.  Finney moved and spoke under divine inspiration and revelation, holding individuals and crowds under the power of his every word spoken as an authoritative prophet of God. He once wrote:  "I received overwhelming baptisms of the Holy Spirit, that went through me, as it seemed to me, body and soul.  I immediately found myself endued with such power from on high that a few words dropped here and there to individuals were the means of their immediate conversion.  My words seemed to fasten like barbed arrows in the souls of men.  They cut like a sword.  They broke the heart like a hammer.  Multitudes can attest to this.  Oftentimes a word dropped without me remembering it, would fasten conviction."

But lest you think Finney to be boasting, he continues:  "Sometimes I would find myself, in a great measure, empty of this power.  I would go out and visit, and find that I made no saving impression.  I would exhort and pray, with the same result.  I would then set apart a day for private fasting and prayer, fearing that this power departed from me, and would inquire anxiously after the reason of this apparent emptiness.  After humbling myself and crying out for help, the power would return upon me with all its freshness.  This has been the experience of my life."


Finney spoke of the great power that God’s Holy Spirit would work through him.  The Spirit would use Finney as His voice, His tool, to cut through to the very souls of people and bring them back into the light.  But then, at times, the Spirit and His power would seem to disappear.  Perhaps at those times Finney might have begun to think that all those convictions and conversions came from his own abilities, and not from the hand of God.

So the Spirit decided to let him actually try it on his own.  And on his own, Finney failed.  Humbled, the man turned back to God and prayed that the Spirit’s power would again work through him that others might be saved.

Family, this is a story of revival, of renewal.  While Finney may well indeed have been a leader in the Second Great Awakening in the US, this is not about a national revival, but one of a much more personal nature.  This is a man, humbled before the Almighty God, begging for revival in his own heart.  Each of us needs this kind of personal revival, one that starts in our own hearts.  From there it can spread, but it must begin here, within us.


Family, I’ve been emphasizing God’s Holy Spirit lately because He is the person of God usually given the least consideration and often the least understood.  Yet He is just as important to us as God the Father and Jesus His Son.

Jesus sacrificed Himself for the atonement of our sins, forgiven us by the mercy and grace of God who adopts us into His family once we accept Jesus as Lord.  But it’s the Holy Spirit who actually lives within us, within those who believe, who are members of the family of God.  In this way God is always with us, helping us, guiding us, speaking for us when we can’t find the words.  This is a great and wonderful gift that Jesus promised us just before He returned to heaven.  Listen to what the Apostle John recorded for us in his Gospel account, chapter 14, verses 15 through 17…

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

--John 14:15-17 (NKJV)

God’s Spirit dwells with us because we believe, but we must keep Jesus’ commandments: to love, to forgive, to make more disciples, more followers of Christ.  Our heart is a spiritual home, and I don’t mean that fleshy little blood pump but our innermost being, that which makes us “us”.  So this spiritual home extends throughout our being, and includes what we think in our minds.

Give that a few moments extra thought…  What we think, our most secret thoughts, are all part of the home of God’s most Holy Spirit.  The Apostle Paul speaks of this and issues a warning to us all, in his letter to the Romans, chapter 8, verses 7 through 11…

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

--Romans 8:7-11 (NKJV)

The realm of our mind is part of the Spirit’s home.  If our thoughts dwell on the carnal world, the world of the flesh with all its cravings and lusts, then we cannot please God and this is not a proper home for His Spirit.

Fortunately for us, if the Spirit does indeed live within us, He will help us sweep out those worldly thoughts and do a little housecleaning.  But we have to be careful to let Him completely fill every nook and cranny of our being.  Otherwise we leave room for that evil spirit of worldly thought to come back in, and bring along his friends, like Jesus warned us in the earlier reading.

And Paul also points out a great side-effect of having the awesome power of God’s Holy Spirit living within us.  Once our time on this mortal plane is finished, the Spirit will raise us to new life with God, just as He raised Jesus from the dead.


Today is homecoming at Pilgrim, and I hope we all do feel most welcome in this beautiful church family home and find it clean and inviting.  But I can’t help but wonder...  How welcome does God’s Spirit feel in His home?  Have we swept out all the cobwebs, dusted all the surfaces, fluffed up the pillows and put out fresh flowers?

In other words, how clean are our thoughts, how pure are our hearts?  How loving and forgiving are we towards others, even those who hate us and would do us harm?  How closely do we follow Jesus in our day-to-day lives?

Let’s clean house, so the Holy Spirit can truly feel at home.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You put the same power that raised Jesus from the dead right inside us when we accept Your Son as our Lord and Master.  You make us the home for Your Holy Spirit, who joins with our spirit to give us renewed life.  Help us feel the revival Your Spirit brings!  Help us be refreshed and reawakened each and every day through Your Spirit within us.  And Father, most of all, help us keep His home clean and tidy, free from the junk of this world.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You promised to never leave us alone, to be with us until the end of this age.  So You asked our Father God to send His Spirit to live within us and be our constant Companion, Counselor, and Guide, our ever-present Helper.  Thank You, Lord, for loving us so much.  Please help us to truly follow You in our daily lives, so that we might keep the Spirit’s home clean.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.

A Battleground

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 25th of August, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.  Today we also held our back-to-school service, asking the Lord's blessing over our students, teachers, and all school personnel, as well as their gear.]

I will admit that, at first glance, the scripture I am using for today’s back-to-school service may seem a poor choice.  But if you’ll keep an open heart and stick with me, I think you’ll see why it fits.

I want you to picture in your minds a battlefield where a great war is fought, a war for freedom from tyranny and slavery.  One great warrior emerges, a Judge of Israel.  I mentioned last week that God sent His Spirit to touch and help the Judges, giving Samson as an example.  Please listen and follow along to what the prophet Samuel recorded in his Book of the Judges, chapter 3, verses 5 through 11, reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

5 Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.

7 So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. 9 When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

--Judges 3:5-11 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You raised up a great warrior hero in Othniel by sending Your Holy Spirit to help him in battle.  Your servant Othniel delivered the people out of slavery.  Father, today we face a far greater enemy than the King of Mesopotamia.  Embolden us with Your Spirit that dwells within us, Father.  Give us the courage and strength we need in the battle ahead.  Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear and heed.  This we pray in the holy name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


Theologian G. K. Chesterton once noted that:  “Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”

The great philosopher, Pete Seeger...  OK, so he was actually a folk singer, but Pete posed this question in an interview for Rolling Stone magazine:  “Do you know the difference between education and experience?  Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't.”


Both are indeed true.  We certainly gain experience when we ignore the fine print.  And even though it sounds humorous, I think Chesterton gave us a warning we should heed.  We are in danger of taking educated people, or at least some of them, too seriously.  And for that I’ll point directly at too many of our nation’s public schools and those of higher learning.

For decades now, we’ve sent our children off to prominent universities, only to have them taught that everything they learned at home is hogwash.  There is no God, Jesus was just a man, the entire universe sparked into being entirely by chance and in one big bang of energy and light, out of nothing.  We try to raise our kids right, and the professors tell them we had it all wrong.

And now that attitude is working its way into our public schools.  Case in point: a middle school in California recently handed out a little chart to incoming students that identified three genders:  make, female, and “other”.  And then they included “intersex” with “other”, whatever that is.

Family, we know that God created mankind in His own image and likeness.  Male and female He created us - no “other” nor “intersex”, just male and female.  But if things like this keep up, our children may not know the absolute truth of God and His creation.


I feel the Spirit led me to today’s scripture because we are at war, just as were the children of Israel.  And just like them, we are in a war of our own making, a war that is basically our own fault.  And when I say “our own making”, “our own fault”, I mean modern society, and yes, in a big way, even you and me.

The Israelis turned their backs on God, disobeyed His commands, carried on however they wanted, serving themselves and not God.  As Samuel put it, they did evil in the sight of the Lord.  So God allowed them to be taken into captivity by Mesopotamia.  For eight years the people languished in slavery before they finally remembered God and cried out to Him for help.

God took pity and sent Othniel to judge them, the son of Kenaz, nephew of Caleb.  God’s Holy Spirit touched Othniel, came upon him, and he delivered his people from captivity.  Samuel tells us that then the people, and even the land, enjoyed peace and rest for forty years… once they returned to God!


Family, just like those ancient Jews, we are in a war of our own making.  We have stood by and watched as Satan has taken control of the public sphere, from our courthouses to our seats of government to the schools where we send our children.  Our religious freedom is being stripped away from those public places and relegated to the privacy of our homes and churches.

We are in a war, and we are losing.  The Apostle Paul tells us what we need to do.  Listen to what he wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 10 through 18…

10 Finally, my brethren, 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 wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints...

--Ephesians 6:10-18 (NKJV)

We are at war, and I wonder how many of us realize we are sending our children into the battlefields.  We watch as our grandchildren march off to face an enemy whose cruelty and viciousness is unmatched in history.  Satan is hard at work in our schools, from elementary all the way through college, trying to sway young minds.  He attacks them relentlessly, making the absurd sound reasonable, telling our children that everything we taught them is silly.

We must prepare them for that fight.  We must ensure they have all the tools they need to return to the battlefields of school.  Paul tells us what we need to do.  We can’t leave it all up to preachers and Sunday School teachers and youth leaders.  The equipping of our youth must begin and be continually reinforced in the home.  They must be knowledgeable in God’s word, which they can’t learn at school.  They must understand the Gospel, the Good News of salvation available only through Jesus, and know just what it means to them.  The only offensive weapon Paul offers is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.  It is crucial we train our children in its use, in its truth.


Othniel was the hero in the battle against Mesopotamia, delivering the people from slavery because God’s Spirit came to him, touched him, gave him strength and courage.  Satan now threatens to take our young ones into slavery, making them slaves of sin.  We must let the Spirit strengthen and encourage us and our children, for the fight we face is for the eternal souls of our youth.

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


Let us pray…  Father God, some of us don’t yet realize that we are at war, but unlike what Othniel faced, our war is spiritual.  Thank You, Father, for providing us the equipment we need for this spiritual warfare.  Thank You for Your Spirit to stand at our side in battle.  Please strengthen us and our children through Your Spirit so that we can withstand Satan’s attacks.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You know what we are up against in this battle because You faced Satan Yourself.  You also had God’s Spirit on Your side, and You used the sword of the Spirit, God’s word, to fight against the devil.  Thank You, Lord, for showing us how we too can stand in this fight.  Please help us to trust in the Spirit and take strength and courage from Him.

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

And now, Heavenly Father, God of all wisdom and knowledge, we come before You this morning to ask Your blessings over our beautiful students, teachers, school staff, and their backpacks.   We give You thanks, Lord, for schools and classrooms, and for all the teachers and students and staff who will fill them each day.  We thank You for school supplies, both traditional and high tech.  But mostly, Father, we thank You for these Your children standing here today who have committed themselves to study and to learning and to teaching in the school year ahead.  Please bless our students with a thirst for knowledge, with an understanding of what they are shown and taught, and with respect for those who selflessly strive to teach them.

Father God, please bless these teachers and staff in their endeavors.  Watch over them in their daily travels to and from school, in their classrooms and everywhere on school grounds.  Please grant them patience, wisdom, and a sense of humor to see them through each day.  Bless them with a wonderful imagination and creativity that they might make the learning experience exciting for our students.  Use them, Lord, to show our children Your love.  Guide them, that they might guide our youth in their travels through life.

Lord, please give all of these Your children health and well-being throughout the year.  Bless the food they eat each day that they be well nourished.  May they be guided by Your love in all they do.  May their faith increase each day that they may grow ever closer to you.  Shield them by Your Spirit that they may withstand the attacks Satan will inflict upon them.  And may their backpacks and bags serve as a constant reminder that the love and care of this congregation family surrounds and enfolds them each school day.

And Lord, may we as a church family understand and accept the responsibility of helping our children grow into righteous young men and women.  Help us show them Your way by the example we live.  May we constantly offer them love, support, encouragement, and prayer for their safety and success.  This we ask as we seek Your blessings, and this we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.