Call On the Lord

 

[Sunday morning, the 29th of August, 2021, was a fifth Sunday of the month and at Pilgrim Reformed Church we like to celebrate fifth Sundays with music.  So this morning we enjoyed a sing-along of our favorite hymns.  The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered just before the singing began.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

In my Invocation this morning, I read to you from the opening of King David’s 55th Psalm, where he pleads with God to hear his prayer.  In verses 16 and 17, David goes on to say…

16 As for me, I will call upon God,

And the Lord shall save me.

17 Evening and morning and at noon

I will pray, and cry aloud,

And He shall hear my voice.

--Psalm 55:16-17 (NKJV)

So David declares that not only will he call upon the Lord, asking to be heard, but that he knows God will indeed hear him and save him from whatever he faces at that time.  David is proclaiming his complete trust and faith in God.  His son, wise King Solomon, instructs his own son to do the same.  In Proverbs chapter 3, verses 1 through 8, Solomon gives these words of wisdom…

1 My son, do not forget my law,

But let your heart keep my commands;

2 For length of days and long life

And peace they will add to you.

3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you;

Bind them around your neck,

Write them on the tablet of your heart,

4 And so find favor and high esteem

In the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

8 It will be health to your flesh,

And strength to your bones.

--Proverbs 3:1-8 (NKJV)

Solomon is imparting to his son some of the wisdom God gave him, and the benefits of following that wisdom.  A long and peaceful life, favor and great esteem both in the eyes of God and the sight of his fellow man, guidance and health are just some of these rewards.

“Trust in the Lord”, Solomon says.  We must trust in the Lord with all our heart and acknowledge Him as our Lord, know Him personally, be in a true relationship with Him.  We must trust in the Lord and not lean on our own understanding.

The tumultuous times of the last year and a half should have shown us just how little we can rely on our own understanding.  What was thought to be understood one day was proven wrong the next.  My favorite example of the fallacy of man’s understanding is the bumblebee.  Scientists can show you with diagrams and equations that it is aerodynamically impossible – not physically possible – for a bumblebee to fly.  I guess they forgot to tell the bumblebees.

Man’s understanding, man’s wisdom, is fallible and subject to change.  God’s wisdom is infallible and constant.

Today and every day, we need to call upon the Lord.  He will hear us and save us.  We just need to trust in Him, know Him, have a good solid relationship with Him.  And we need to follow the guidance He provides through His Holy Spirit within us.

Call on the Lord.  Trust in the Lord.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for hearing our prayers when we call upon You for help.  Thank You for always being here for us.  Too often we think we know what we’re doing when we really don’t.  Too often we stand by our own understanding rather than relying on You and the wisdom You offer.  Please, Father, help us put all our trust and faith in You.  Help us grow into a closer, deeper, more meaningful relationship with You.  Give us the full conviction of our words when we say You are Lord.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Lord Over All

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 22nd of August, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

During His short ministry, Jesus was constantly being tested by the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders.  As Jesus went about the land teaching and healing folks of all manner of illnesses and infirmities, the crowds grew ever larger.  His popularity increased to the point that the Pharisees felt threatened in their hold over the people.

So they questioned Him at every opportunity.  They wanted to trap Him, to catch Him in a flagrant violation of the their Law, and especially of God’s law as handed down to Moses: the Ten Commandments.  Number four on that list is, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Please listen and follow along to the events of one particular Saturday afternoon, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in chapter 12 of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 15, and I’ll be reading this from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. 2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, Your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.”

3 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. 5 And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? 6 I tell you, there is One here who is even greater than the Temple! 7 But you would not have condemned My innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ 8 For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

9 Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, 10 where He noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping He would say yes, so they could bring charges against Him.)

11 And He answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. 12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! 14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.

15 But Jesus knew what they were planning. So He left that area, and many people followed Him. He healed all the sick among them.

--Matthew 12:1-15 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for granting Your Son Lordship over all of Your creation.  Jesus is Lord over all illnesses, Lord over the Sabbath, Lord over us, Lord over all.  Thank You, Father, for choosing us to follow Jesus and to believe in Him and accept Him as our Lord.  Please help us truly understand what it means to serve Him.  Help us obey Your and His every command.  Help us to do as You will and not just whatever it is we want to do.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who do his bidding, whether they do so knowingly or not.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Remind us that we are Your creation, and You have given us to Your Son Jesus.  We are His and He is our Lord.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus.   Amen.

Richard J. Mouw, in his book Uncommon Decency, recalls that his favorite Abraham Kuyper quotation comes from a speech that Kuyper once gave before a university audience in Amsterdam.  He was arguing that scholarship is an important form of Christian discipleship.  Since scholarship deals with God's world, it has to be done in such a way that it honors Christ.  Kuyper concluded with this ringing proclamation: "There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, 'This is Mine! This belongs to Me!'"

I can just imagine that thunderous voice from heaven exclaiming, “This is Mine!”  I’m not talking about the whiny petulant cry of a small child, but the Lord of all creation leaving no doubt that, “This belongs to Me!”

And oh, by the way, all of “this” in those two declarations includes you and me.  We are part of God’s glorious creation, and we belong to His Son because we were given to Him.  We belong to Christ Jesus, and we need to make sure everything we do honors Him.

I bet I’m not the only one in here that remembers the Blue Laws that prohibited doing business on Sundays.  No one worked, except the preacher, of course.  No stores were open – the closest thing to a convenience store back then was the corner grocery and it was always closed on Sundays anyway.  The Sunday feast was at home around the dinner table.  Folks went to church and then spent time with one another and family, just enjoying the day – kind of like what God intended for the Sabbath.

But then the Blue Laws were relaxed a little, allowing businesses to start up after church hours, and finally they were all revoked, and Sunday became just another day.  I have to admit I miss those Blue Laws days.

Of course, even back then, there were some jobs that had to be done, some “business” that had to be conducted.  Law enforcement, firefighters, doctors and nurses, hospitals and emergency rooms, all those necessary jobs and businesses had to stay open and doing what they do for our health and well-being.

And this is what Jesus was talking about in His “education” of the Pharisees.  If a person is hungry, someone has to do some form of work so that they can be fed.  And like our preachers during the Blue Laws days, the priests of old had to work on the Sabbath to keep the Temple open and running so people could worship.  Lastly, just as someone would labor on the Sabbath to pull a sheep from a well or a pit, a healer may heal an injured or ill person, for a person is far more valuable than any sheep.

In all of this, Jesus was counteracting the self-righteous attitude of the Pharisees who put the letter of the law ahead of its intent.  He quoted to them from their own holy scripture, from the prophet Hosea, who in the 6th verse of the 6th chapter of his book spoke for God, saying…

6 I want you to show mercy

not offer sacrifices.

I want you to know Me

more than I want burnt offerings.

--Hosea 6:6 (NLT)

God wants us to know Him.  He isn’t as concerned about the laws that the Pharisees perverted to their own ends as He is about us knowing Him, loving Him, understanding His mercy.

When God said to keep the Sabbath holy, He meant the day to be one of rest for the body and the mind and a time of worship, to spend with Him.  He didn’t say not to work if work is necessary, but the Pharisees tried to enforce that on others, even while breaking it themselves by serving in the Temple.

But the main point Jesus was making here, perhaps more for us than for them, is that He can define what the Sabbath means to us because He is Lord over all, even over the Sabbath.  Of course, the Pharisees didn’t believe that.  They didn’t accept Jesus as Lord over anything, much less of the Sabbath, so they plotted to kill Him, and to put an end to His influence.

Long ago, the people of these united colonies fought a long and brutal war to gain independence from a monarch’s rule, to do away with the concept of noble lords that would rule over us, to make it so we could rule ourselves by representative government.  We would bow before no crown.  So I’m not sure we truly understand what the word “lord” really entails.

A lord holds the power of life and death over another.  A person would have no choice but to do what their lord demanded, that or risk great punishment or death.  Even here, in America, we had a period of lords and masters, during our terrible time of legal slavery.  But that whole concept of lords and masters runs contrary to our way of thinking now.

So do we really accept Jesus as Lord?  Are we sure of what that means?  Do we bow to His utter and complete authority?  Or do we accept the parts of what He commands us, of what our Bible tells us, those parts that we like and can personally live with, while rejecting and ignoring the rest?

Jesus is our Lord, whether we accept it or not.  There is a certain and wonderful reward for truly accepting His Lordship over us, and a certain and horrible punishment for those who won’t.

Along with God and the Holy Spirit, Jesus created all there is.  He can look down from His throne upon al creation and truthfully proclaim, “This is Mine!”  Jesus is Lord over all.  And the Apostle Peter attests to this, when he spoke to the household of Cornelius, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, verses 34 through 43…

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 forgiveness of sins.”

--Acts 10:34-43 (NKJV)

Jesus is Lord of all!  He will be the judge of all, both living and dead.  He holds the power of not just mortal life and death but eternal life and death over us.  By Him and Him alone can we be redeemed of our sins and spared everlasting torment.  Whoever believes in Him, whoever accepts Him as their Lord, will be saved.

We all have some mortal, human lord, some master to whom we answer.  It may not be a life and death situation, but there is someone each of us is responsible to in some way.  It may be a boss or a teacher or a spouse.  For me, it’s you and our church Consistory.

But our ultimate Lord is Christ Jesus.  How He sees us is all that really matters.  Since He already is our Lord anyway, let’s go ahead and truly accept Him as such and do what He commands us to do.  We will be richly rewarded for that decision.  He doesn’t require much of us, just that we love one another and tell everyone we meet all about Him and how good He is to us.

Jesus is Lord over all.  Let’s act like it.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for giving us to Jesus.  We are His, we belong to Him, just as all creation belongs to Him.  Thank You for giving us the faith to know Jesus and to accept Him as our Lord.  Jesus is Lord over all.  Please, Father, help us be good and faithful servants.  Sometimes, Father, we let our pride get in our way.  Sometimes we get stubborn and think we answer to no one.  Please, Father, help us better understand what it means when we proclaim Jesus as Lord.  Give us the full conviction of our words.  Encourage us and strengthen us as we strive to serve our Lord Jesus.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

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

Lord Jesus, You are our Lord!  Our Father God gave us to You before the world was even formed.  We belong to You and to You alone.  Thank You, Jesus, for accepting us, for watching over us, for taking on our sins so that we can be seen as spotless when we stand before God at the last.  Lord, we ask You to help us truly be Your servants.  Help us do as You command in all aspects of our daily walk through this life.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world still stained by hatred and distrust of one another.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

The Good Old Days

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 15th of August, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Ahhh… the good ol’ days.  Those times long ago when everything was better.  That’s what we long for, right?  Right now we don’t have to go back too far, do we?  Most of us pretty much long for the days of 2018, with no COVID-19 or masks or isolation.  But if we take off our rose-colored glasses that we often view the past through, we’ll see that not everything in the good old days was really all that good.

Please listen and follow along as the Apostle Paul speaks of his good old days, in chapter 3 of his letter to the Philippians, verses 1 through 11, and I’ll be reading this from the Contemporary English  Version of our Holy Bible…

1 Finally, my dear friends, be glad that you belong to the Lord. It doesn’t bother me to write the same things to you that I have written before. In fact, it is for your own good.

2 Watch out for those people who behave like dogs! They are evil and want to do more than just circumcise you. 3 But we are the ones who are truly circumcised, because we worship by the power of God’s Spirit and take pride in Christ Jesus. We don’t brag about what we have done, 4 although I could. Others may brag about themselves, but I have more reason to brag than anyone else. 5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old, and I am from the nation of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a true Hebrew. As a Pharisee, I strictly obeyed the Law of Moses. 6 And I was so eager that I even made trouble for the church. I did everything the Law demands in order to please God.

7 But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. 8 Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ 9 and to know that I belong to Him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. 10 All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised Him to life. I want to suffer and die as He did, 11 so that somehow I also may be raised to life.

--Philippians 3:1-11 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for choosing us and giving us to Jesus.  We know by His own promise that what You have given to Him will never be lost.  Thank You, Father, for Your great mercy and love.  Please help us be closer followers, better servants for You and our Lord.  Help us to do as You will and not just what we want to do.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who do his bidding, whether knowingly or not.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Remind us of our life without You so we won’t be tempted to return to it.  Show us what we can do to make this life better for all those we encounter.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

A farmer walked into his bank and announced that he had bad news and good news. "First, give me the bad news.", the banker sighed.  "Well," said the farmer, "I can't make my mortgage payments.  And that crop loan I've taken out for the past 10 years -- I can't pay that off, either.  Not only that, I won't be able to pay you the couple of hundred thousand I still have outstanding on my tractors and other farm equipment.  So I'm going to have to give up the farm and turn it all over to you for whatever you can salvage out of it.”  Silence prevailed for a minute and then the banker asked, "What's the good news?"  "The good news is that I'm going to keep on banking with you," said the farmer.

I’m sure the banker was absolutely thrilled that the farmer intended to continue doing business with him.  Anytime someone comes up and says, “I have good news and I have bad news”, we can be fairly sure we’re in trouble, that the bad will be greater than the good.  In the case of the farmer, he might as well have started out by saying, “I have bad news and I have worse news”.

But generally we’re an optimistic people.  We want the good news to be far better, far greater than anything bad we hear.  Just as we want our memories to be of good times, blocking out as much of the bad as possible.  Which is why, I think, we look back fondly on the good old days.

Like I said, though, if we’re honest and realistically view the past, we’ll see that not everything was all that good.  Not everything from those times is worth returning to, nor something we’d want to come back.  Those good old days we remember are often romanticized versions of reality, painted up in our minds to be all pretty and sweet.

In many ways, what we have right now is far better than in any of our days before.  And that is especially true of our life now, with Christ, in comparison to our life before we accepted Him as our Lord.

I think Paul provides a pretty good example of this for us, using his own life as an object lesson.  As a Pharisee, Paul enjoyed a good life.  He obeyed the Law of Moses and gladly did his duties for the Temple, trying to stamp out this new Way.  He did everything he could in order to please God, and in so doing to please himself.

He could have easily looked back on those times as the good old days, especially in light of what happened to him after his eyes were opened.  He suffered multiple beatings, shipwrecks, threats on his life, imprisonments, and all because he was now working for Jesus.

But did he look back fondly on those days as a Pharisee?  No, just the opposite!  Because Jesus showed him that what he once thought was valuable was actually worthless.  Everything he had before, everything he knew from those days, was garbage.  There is nothing, nothing as wonderful as knowing and accepting Christ Jesus as our Lord!  As far as Paul was concerned, these were the good old days: serving, and suffering for, Jesus.

I’d like to turn to wise King Solomon’s Book of Ecclesiastes for a moment to see what he has to say about “the good old days”.  I’ll start with chapter 7, verses 10 and 14…

10 Don’t long for “the good old days.”

This is not wise.

14 Enjoy prosperity while you can,

but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God.

Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

--Ecclesiastes 7:10, 14 (NLT)

Nothing in this life is certain.  Everything is subject to change at a moment’s notice.  We’ve sure seen that, haven’t we?  So enjoy the good times while they’re here and don’t long for the good old days.

Like I said earlier, not everything in the good old days was really "good".  Let’s hear what Salomon adds in chapter 11, verses 9 and 10…

9 Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. 10 So remove sorrow from your heart and keep pain away from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.

--Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 (NASB)

We who have long ago crested that mountain known as the prime of life know just how fleeting youth is.  Those pleasant days of childhood and young adulthood linger in our memories, and still live only there.  But just remember, as Solomon cautions, we will be judged for any and all foolishness and indiscretions from those days.

And lastly, going back to chapter 3, in verse 6 Solomon reminds us…

6 [There is] A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

--Ecclesiastes 3:6 (NKJV)

Paul said I count everything as garbage that I ever had and enjoyed in the past, before knowing Jesus as Lord.  Everything that was valuable is now worthless.  I count it all as loss.  I threw it all away.  What I thought were the good old days really weren’t very good.  Or at least I wasn’t very good in them.

Now, all I want, all I need, is Christ.  I want to know Him, to know that I belong to Him.  Nothing I ever did before made me acceptable to God, made me right in God’s eyes.  God accepted me simply because of my faith in Jesus.  All I want now is to know Christ and the power that raised Him to life.  I want to suffer and die as He did, so that I, too, will be raised to life eternal.

This is what Paul told us as he wrote to the church in Philippi.  And family, these should be our words as well.  Those good old days we long for?  They were only truly good when we were serving our Lord Jesus and doing the will of God.

So let’s not dwell on or long too much for those good old days.  These times we live in right now can be made better – better for us and better for others – if we just work at it and do the will of God.  So let’s do all we can to make these the good old days.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for accepting us and seeing us as righteous because of our faith in Your Son Jesus.  By Your grace, we worship by the power of Your Holy Spirit and we take pride in Christ Jesus as our Lord.  Thank You for allowing Your Spirit to dwell within us.  Please, Father, help us be more worthy of Your love.  Sometimes, Father, when we look through our catalog of memories, we see only the good, forgetting the bad things we may have done or experienced.  Sometimes we long for what we think are the good old days, without doing anything to make the current days better.  Please, Father, help us make these the good old days.  Give us the insight to make things better.  Encourage us and strengthen us to continue the mission Jesus gave us.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

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

Lord Jesus, until we came to know You as our Lord, all we did was in vain.  Everything we had, anything we ever accomplished, was all garbage.  All that matters is belonging to You.  Thank You, Jesus, for showing us what is truly valuable.  Lord Jesus, we ask You to help us make these days we are going through better for others.  Help us as we walk through these times to remember that we can make these the good old days for those we encounter.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world still filled with hatred and distrust of one another.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Hunger No More

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 8th of August, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the account of Jesus feeding over 5000 people using only five loaves of barley bread and two small fishes.  After thanking God for providing them, Jesus broke the loaves and fishes into pieces and gave them to His disciples who distributed them to the multitudes.  And then following the meal, He told the disciples to gather up all that remained so that nothing is lost, and they collected twelve baskets full.

We didn’t look at it then, but the next day the throng again went searching for Jesus and caught up with Him in Capernaum.  At this point, Jesus told them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”  The people asked what they could do, to do the works of God.  Jesus told them to simply believe in Him whom God sent.

Now all of this was recorded for us by the Apostle John in the 6th chapter of his Gospel account.  But of course, there is more, for Jesus has more to say, more to teach, to those gathered there that day and to us, here and now.

Please listen and follow along as Jesus explains to us why He came to earth, continuing in chapter 6 of John’s Gospel account with verses 35 through 51, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

--John 6:35-51 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for putting Your seal on Jesus and sending Him to redeem us.  We believe He is Your Son and we accept Him as our Lord.  Thank You, Father, for giving us to Jesus so that we will not be lost.  Please help us labor only for that which is eternal.  Help us to do as You will and not as we might want to do.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who do his bidding, whether knowingly or not.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Fill us with Your word.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton was overseeing the work of the Red Cross in Cuba.  One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her, wanting to buy food for his sick and wounded Rough Riders.  But she refused to sell him any.  Roosevelt was perplexed.  His men needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds.  When he asked someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, "Colonel, just ask for it!"  A smile broke over Roosevelt's face.  Now he understood -- the provisions were not for sale.  All he had to do was simply ask and they would be given freely.

Most of us have something that we truly prize, something that we’d never sell.  To which the cynical man would answer, everything is for sale, at the right price.

Well, Clara Barton didn’t think that way.  To her, the food and medicine needed to help those under her care were not for sale, at any price.  But she would gladly give away what she would not sell, if only she were asked to.

I believe most if not all of us would hate to be stolen from, for someone to come up and steal from us.  And yet, if there were a true need and they would only ask, we would do all we could to help.

Jesus tells us all we need to do is ask, ask in His name, and it will be freely given.  Truly believe, and God will provide.

There was a point a little over 15 years ago when I had simply put on too much weight around the middle.  My knees and hips were killing me and my heart started racing, and this was all long before my recent heart attack.  At that time, and after some tests, my doctor told me my heart was fine but that I could stand to lose a little weight.  So I set out to do just that.

I started counting calories, using an app on my smartphone to figure out how much I could eat to get down to my target weight.  And that, my dear family, was not easy.  I often went to bed feeling hungry.  I actually had enough to eat each day, and more than a lot of the world’s population gets, but I’d lay awake at night hungry.  I grew up working class poor, but we always had enough food on the table.  Yet this experience in dieting gave me a greater insight into what it feels like to be hungry.  My hunger was self-imposed.  World hunger is real, and completely involuntary.

All of this is just to say that there is a definite aching pain when we hunger for something that is just out of reach.  And this is just as true for when that something is physical or spiritual.  Unfulfilled hunger will gnaw at us, eating away at us from the inside out.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger.”  Just a little earlier, Jesus and His disciples had walked to Galilee through Samaria, bypassing Jerusalem.  They stopped to rest and eat in the city of Sychar, by Jacob’s well.  The disciples left Jesus sitting there by the well as they went in search of food for their noonday meal.  Hear what happened next, as told by John in chapter 4 of his Gospel account, verses 7 through 14…

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

--John 4:7-14 (NKJV)

In human form, Jesus understood our anatomy.  He knew that physical food and water will only satisfy our hunger and thirst for a short while, and then we will be hungry and thirsty again.  So He offers us the bread of life, that we may never hunger again.  He offers us the living water, that within us will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.  And all we have to do is ask, ask in His name.

Eat of the bread of life and hunger no more.  Drink of the living water and never thirst again.  Jesus came down from heaven to do the will of our Father God who sent Him.  All those that the Father gives Him comes to Him, and none will be lost but shall rise up to everlasting life on the last day.  And all that is required of us is to believe in Him whom God sent.

Believe in Jesus as the Son of God.  Fully accept Him as our Lord and Master.  Put all our trust and faith in Him and Him alone.  Eat of the bread He offers and live forever.  For the bread is His flesh, which He freely gave for the life of the world.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, again we thank You for sending Your only Son into the world just to save us.  This is how much You love the world, how much You love us.  Thank You for wanting us to be with You in paradise forever, and for giving us the only way to be able to do so.  Jesus is the only way.  Please, Father, help us be worthy of Your love and His sacrifice.  Sometimes, Father, we fail to fully trust in You.  Sometimes we think You couldn’t possibly love us as much as You do, we poor sinners.  Please, Father, help us faithfully follow Jesus.  Give us a greater conviction of our faith, encourage us and strengthen us in our endeavors.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

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

Lord Jesus, You fed thousands with a few small loaves of bread and fishes.  You saw to their immediate physical need.  And then You offered them, and us, something far greater than a bite to eat.  Thank You, Jesus, for bringing the bread of life and the living water to earth.  Lord Jesus, we ask You to help us understand just what it is You bring.  And as importantly, help us explain to others what it is You offer.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world still filled with hatred and distrust of one another.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Unity

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 1st of August, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

While the Apostle Paul was imprisoned in Rome, he wrote letters to some of the churches he had established or helped start in Asia Minor.  And while these letters were addressed to separate churches, they were intended to be passed around to all the churches in the region so that all the believers could benefit from them.

This is certainly the case for the letter Paul addressed to the church in the city of Ephesus.  He wanted all the believers in the region, all the churches, to read it because the general theme of this letter was to show God’s grand design of establishing and completing the body of Christ, the church.

In particular, and what I was led to for today, Paul lays out what should be the practice of believers.  He tells us how we should live our daily lives in relation to each other, to our spiritual gifts, and to our former life before we came to Christ.  Please listen and follow along to this message Paul wrote in the 4th chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, verses 1 through 24, and I’ll be reading this from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 one God and Father of all,

who is over all, in all, and living through all.

7 However, He has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. 8 That is why the Scriptures say,

“When He ascended to the heights,

He led a crowd of captives

and gave gifts to His people.”

9 Notice that it says “He ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. 10 And the same One who descended is the One who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that He might fill the entire universe with Himself.

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy.

--Ephesians 4:1-24 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for giving us the faith to believe in Your Son Jesus so that we can be part of His body, His church.  He left us with the task of carrying on His work, so that others may see Him through our actions and our love.  Thank You, God, for calling us to this purpose.  Please help us be worthy of our calling.  Help us be humble and gentle, and patient with one another.  Please keep us strong in our faith and help us remain united in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who willingly do his bidding.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Write into our minds and onto our hearts that our one purpose is to worship and serve You and Jesus.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus, your Son and our Redeemer.   Amen.

Motivational author Vesta Kelly once noted that, "Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together."  And then we have a bit of wisdom from an anonymous source who added, "There can be union without unity.  Tie two cats together by their tails and throw them over a clothesline to see what I mean."

Sometimes unity can bring mixed results.  Those same snowflakes that bring a calm quiet to our personal world can also create chaos and crashes on our roadways.  And if too many of them stick together, they can cause power outages, cripple cities, and bring everything to a complete halt.  But when we unite together in service to our Lord, when we truly show His love to all around us, then His power comes into play and good things will happen.

Let’s just make sure we don’t hiss at each other and squabble like cats tied together, but be more like snowflakes gently blanketing the world in peace.

Paul reminds us that there is one Lord, one God, who is over all, in all, and living through all.  There is one faith, and that in Christ Jesus.  There is one baptism, not of water but of God’s Holy Spirit, of which there is but one.  And there is one body, that of Jesus left here on earth.  The wonderful thing is, we believers are all united in this one God, one Lord, one Spirit, one body.  We are all one.

Along with all this oneness comes a certain calling, the task Jesus left us with, to continue His work spreading the Gospel and making disciples by telling others all about Him.  Oh, and we’ve not been left without some help in this.  We’ve been given gifts to equip us for our job.

Now here Paul is not talking about the spiritual gifts we as individuals have received, but those the church has been given.  These gifts include apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.  These good people can help us do our work and build up the church, the body of Christ.  They can help us mature in our faith and in our service.  But we must remain united as one body.

I want to pause for just a moment and look at why we should accept what Paul tells us here.  In chapter 9 of the Apostle Luke’s Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus tells Ananias to go and restore Saul's sight, but Ananias is fearful.  Hear what Jesus told Ananias, in verses 15 & 16 of Acts 9…

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

--Acts 9:15-16 (NKJV)

While he was blinded, Jesus gave Paul a special insight into our Lord and the authority to serve Him.  Jesus tells us right there that He chose Paul to be His tool, His instrument for carrying His word to the Gentiles and Israelis alike.  We’re the Gentiles, and Paul speaks to us because Jesus chose him to do just that.

So, much like Paul, we have been chosen and called by God to be the body of Christ Jesus, to carry out His work here on earth.  As a church, we’ve been given leaders to help us in that calling, to help us mature as followers of Christ.  But Paul begs us to be worthy of that calling.

If we are to carry the name of Christ in our own calling, we should be more like Christ.  We should be humble and gentle.  We should be patient with one another, making allowances for each other’s faults.  And family, we all have faults!

We must make every effort to keep ourselves united in the Spirit, bound together with love and peace.  Too often, we act more like two cats tied together and thrown over the clothesline, even when our intention is to carry on the church’s work!  We let the little things, the petty disagreements, chip away at our unity.  We need to always remember that we are of one God, one Lord, one Spirit, who is over us and living through us.

Even though Paul could be quite aggressive and bombastic in his evangelistic fervor, he was still a very humble man after he came to know Jesus.  He practiced what he preached in this regard.  And he wants us to be humble, too, humble and gentile and kind to one another.

Let me close with the words with which he opened the 2nd chapter of his letter to the Philippians, verses 1 through 3…

1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

--Philippians 2:1-3 (NKJV)

If we take any consolation in Christ Jesus, any comfort from love, any fellowship of God’s Holy Spirit, any mercy and affection, then Paul asks that we be like-minded with him.  This is unity: being of the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  We should do nothing through selfishness or conceit, for this will destroy any unity.  Instead, we should hold the opinions and actions of others in the greatest esteem and respect.

We are one body, one church, the body of Christ Jesus left here to carry on His work, called to this one purpose.  Let us remain united in Christ’s love and our mission.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for calling us and making us Your own.  You chose us to be the body of Your Son, left here to carry on His work after He returned home to You in heaven.  Thank You for trusting us with so important a task.  Please, Father, help us remain united as one body.  Sometimes, Father, we are too timid or afraid to do what is required of us.  Sometimes we think we don’t know the right words to say or what we should do to make a difference in someone’s life.  And sometimes we let our own foolish pride get in our way.  Please, Father, help us carry out our mission.  Give us the words, show us what to do, encourage us and strengthen us.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

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

Lord Jesus, before You returned to heaven, You assigned us one job to do: to go into the world telling everyone about You and making new disciples.  You united us and created Your church from us.  Thank You, Jesus, for joining us together into Your earthly body.  Lord Jesus, we ask You to help us as we try to reach out to a disbelieving world with Your word and the Good News of salvation You bring.  Help us remain united in our purpose of service to You.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world where we only seem to be united in our hatred and distrust of one another.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

May Nothing Be Lost

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 25th of July, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Last week we studied a passage of scripture from the Gospel account of the Apostle Mark.  In that reading, I skipped a section on purpose simply because it did not pertain to the point of the message.

Do you remember what I said I skipped?  It was Mark’s account of the feeding of the 5000.  This event was recorded by all four of the Gospel writers, so we know it is something very important for us to study and understand and learn from.

We call this the feeding of the 5000, but each of the Gospel writers puts that number at 5000 men, which does not include any women and children that were very likely also present.  The Apostle Matthew in his account even mentions, “Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children”.

But the Apostle John added one little piece of information in his account that the other three failed to include, one short sentence Jesus spoke after all had eaten that I think we need to hear.  Please listen and follow along to how John recorded this event for us in chapter 6 of his Gospel account in verses 1 through 15, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

--John 6:1-15 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for hearing all prayers, especially those offered up by Your Son Jesus.  He took five loaves of bread and two small fish and thanked You for the feast they would provide.  Thank You, God, for giving Jesus the power and authority to work such mighty signs and miracles, so that the people then and we now would know that He is indeed Your Son.  Please hear our prayers also.  Help us give You thanks for what You are about to do in our lives.  Help us speak to others of Your mighty power and compassionate love.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who so gleefully do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and our service to Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Show us in our minds and our hearts how we might help save the lost from a horrible fate.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus, your Son and our Redeemer.   Amen.

I apologize that this little story may not be well-suited to the faint of heart, but it is very telling.  In one of his essays, George Orwell describes a wasp that, "was sucking jam on my plate and I cut him in half.  He paid no attention, merely went on with his meal, while a tiny stream of jam trickled out of his severed esophagus.  Only when he tried to fly away did he grasp the dreadful thing that had happened to him."  In his essay, Orwell didn’t mention this, but that wasp and people without Christ have much in common.  Severed from their souls, but greedy and unaware, those people continue to consume life's sweetness.  Only when it's time to fly away will they fully grasp their dreadful condition.

OK, so that was a little gross, but it makes a very interesting comparison.

George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, and most widely known for his futuristic novel, 1984.  He was rather radical in his views so maybe we can’t really fault him for detailing so strange an occurrence in his life, nor his actions in cutting the wasp in half to see what would happen.

Just as that wasp kept on sucking up the sweet jam without realizing its doom was at hand, people who have rejected Jesus continue to take in all that this life has to offer without a care of what eternity holds in store.  They are lost, just as that wasp was lost, and the sad thing is that they don’t even know it.

As I mentioned at the start, all four Gospel writers included this miraculous meal in their accounts.  Matthew recorded it in his chapter 14, Mark in his chapter 6, and Luke in his chapter 9.  But only John caught something Jesus said.  Did you notice it?

After everyone finished eating, Jesus sent the disciples back around to gather up in baskets anything that wasn’t eaten.  Jesus told them to “gather up the fragments that remain”, or words to that effect.  But only John heard the Lord add, “so that nothing is lost”.  Go and gather up anything left over so that nothing is lost, nothing is left behind.

Yes, Jesus was speaking of the bits of fish and bread that had not been eaten by the throng.  But do you suppose that’s all Jesus meant?  Could He have also had something else in mind, knowing that we today would be reading of this account that His beloved disciple saved for us?

One more thing that John caught that the others may have missed is contained in the last verse of our passage.  Jesus perceived that the people were about ready to force Him to be their king.  Remember, there were over 5000 of them and He had just fed them all with what amounted to a rather modest lunch.  They were starting to realize this was indeed the promised Messiah, the Savior, the king come to save them all.

Yes, He was the Messiah, but an earthly king is not the role He came to serve.  His purpose here, given Him by our Father God, was much more humble, and far more important than that.

So that nothing is lost…

Jesus often spoke of sheep in His teachings, because the people understood sheep, and shepherd was a common occupation.  Sometimes He commented on people who acted like sheep without a shepherd, or like sheep who had gone astray.  Sheep are relatively dumb, and need someone to guide them or they’ll wander around eating grass without a care in the world.  Sort of like that wasp in Orwell’s essay.  They’ll stray from the flock and get lost.

And Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd at times.  He even told His disciple Peter to tend His sheep, feed His sheep.

Listen to what Matthew recorded Jesus saying to His disciples in chapter 18 of his Gospel account, verses 11 through 14…

11 ... “the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

--Matthew 18:11-14 (NKJV)

Jesus came to save the lost, so that nothing - no one - be lost.  The shepherd would certainly leave the 99 sheep behind to go look for the one that had gone astray.  And he would rejoice more for finding it than for the others who were safe in the fold.

Jesus and all the angels in heaven rejoice whenever one lost sheep, one strayed soul, is found and returns to the flock.  Why?  Because it is not God’s will that even one soul be lost.

Family, if Jesus rejoices over one lost sheep being found and returned to the fold, doesn’t it follow that He must weep over any sheep that go astray?  We should share in heaven’s sorrow when one of us wanders from the flock, taking in the pleasures of this life, content on grazing the meadows of this world with no concern for what lies ahead.  And we should rejoice when one who was lost is found.  After all, it is God’s will that none who have strayed should perish, but that they be found and saved.

Let us continue to pray for the lost, for those who have strayed from the straight and narrow path.  And if and when we get the opportunity to talk with one of them, let’s remind them of how good our Lord is and how much He loves them.  Let’s do all we can to help, so that nothing is lost.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for loving us so much that You want none of us to perish, to be separated from You for all eternity.  You sent Your Son Jesus to save us when we were lost, and He still seeks out the lost.  Thank You for working Your will through Him and through us.  Please, Father, help us carry out Your will.  Help us be better servants.  Sometimes, Father, we let the world get us down and we start to lose hope.  Sometimes we enjoy this life too much and begin to stray.  Please, Father, help us stay on the path to righteousness.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

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

Lord Jesus, You came to save the lost and You rejoice when one who was lost is found.  We were all lost in our sin when You came to save us.  Thank You, Jesus, for loving us this much.  Lord Jesus, we ask You to help us as we try to reach out to a disbelieving world with Your word and Your Good News.  Help us as we seek out the lost.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world where hatred and distrust seem to grow stronger each day.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Touched and Made Well

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 18th of July, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth where He was mostly rejected, where everyone there knew Him as the son of a carpenter and not as God.  So He went into the surrounding towns and villages and sent His twelve disciples out, sent them out in pairs after giving them power over unclean spirits, sent them out to spread the Gospel and preach repentance.

Jesus warned them that some would not listen, would not hear the truth.  The disciples should just shake these non-believers off, for their fate will be terrible.  And they did as Jesus commanded, casting out many demons, anointing the sick with oil and healing them.

I imagine this would have been rather stressful work for the disciples, going out pretty much on their own without their Lord.  Please listen and follow along to how the Apostle Mark described their return and what happened next, as reported in chapter 6 of his Gospel account, verses 30 through 34 and verses 53 through 56, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

30 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 31 And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 32 So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.

33 But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. 34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.

53 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.

--Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for giving Your Son Jesus Your own Holy Spirit and the power to make us well.  We are frail in body, and often need healing, but we also often become weak in spirit and need to be made whole.  Thank You, God, for Your healing touch in our lives.  Please help us let others know that they too can be made whole through Jesus.  Help us show them how the touch of our Lord has healed our soul and can make them well too.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and our service to Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Strengthen us and let us feel Your healing touch this day.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus, your Son and our Redeemer.   Amen.

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys.  He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.  Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground.  Then he said to the critical Athenian, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can.  Tell us what the unstrung bow implies."  The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make.  Aesop explained, "If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it."

People are like that, too: we’ll eventually break if we’re always kept tense.  That's why we all need to take some time to rest.  In today's Scripture, Jesus prescribed time off for His wearied disciples after they had returned from a prolonged period of ministry.  And in Genesis 2:3 of the Old Testament, God set a pattern for us when He "rested from all His work".

When we relax a little, we can let God’s healing touch work its wonders.  So let’s take His example seriously and rest from all our work.  We can start by setting aside a special time to relax physically and so renew ourselves emotionally and spiritually.  We will be at our best for the Lord if we have taken time to loosen the bow.  

When the disciples returned from their assigned task, Jesus told them to rest for a spell.  They were likely tired and a little stressed out, and there was still a lot commotion around Jesus, with many folk coming and going just to see Him.  Mark noted that there was so much going on around them that they didn’t even have time to eat.  So Jesus said let’s just all get away to ourselves for a while and take a break.

They climbed aboard a boat and headed out to a deserted place, but the crowds saw them leave and followed on foot.  When Jesus and the disciples reached shore, the multitude was waiting for them.  So much for their break!

The part of the scripture that I left out, between verses 35 and 52, was when Jesus fed the 5000 men, and who knows how many women and children, making that huge meal from only five loaves of bread and two fishes.  That was certainly no time for rest for Jesus or the disciples.  They stayed constantly busy seeing to the needs of the people that flocked around this miraculous healer.  And it was like this everywhere Jesus went.  Once He was recognized, the people immediately flocked to Him.

Why?  Because they knew He could heal them.  Even if they could only touch the hem of His garment, Jesus could make them well.

Family, one thing we pray for every week is that God touch us and make us well, make us whole.  We’re not just asking for healing in our bodies alone, but in our minds, our hearts, and our spirits as well.  And not just for ourselves as individuals, but for our loved ones, for those we may not personally know, for our nation, and for society as a whole.  We also pray that God’s Holy Spirit would touch and soften the hearts of the lost and the non-believers, that they too might be saved.

We pray for that divine, miraculous touch because that is how Jesus healed folks when He walked this earth.  As we just read in Mark’s Gospel account, everywhere Jesus went, the sick and infirm - both in body and in spirit - came to Him or were brought to Him to be made well.  Jesus didn’t really need to touch them, and didn’t always do so, but so often He would simply reach out His hand, or take someone by the hand, to make them well, to make them whole again.

Please listen and follow along to three such occurrences that the Apostle Matthew reported for us in chapter 9 of his Gospel account, verses 18 through 31…

18 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” 19 So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.

20 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. 21 For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” 22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

23 When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, 24 He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. 25 But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went out into all that land.

27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”

28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” 31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.

--Matthew 9:18-31 (NKJV)

We know those stories; we’ve talked about them before.  They are a testament to faith, and to Jesus’ healing power, able even to raise the dead back to life, made well with just a touch, just a word.  By their faith and belief in Jesus’ authority and ability to heal them, these people we’ve heard about this morning were made well.

But family, it isn’t just physical bodies that Jesus can touch and heal.  By the touch of His blood we are healed of our sin and made right with God.  By His touch on our lives we are made whole, complete in Him, reunited through Him with our Father God.  When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master, He touched us and made us well.

Now it’s our turn.  Jesus told the healed blind men not to tell anyone what had happened to them because it wasn’t quite yet time for His real purpose and identity to be made known.  But now He has commanded us to go out and tell everyone all about Him, tell the whole world what He has done for us.  Jesus wants everyone to reach out and touch Him so they can be made well.

Like those blind men, we need to spread the news about Him, the Good News, in all our country and in all the world.  We have been touched and made well!  Let everyone know!  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for the great compassionate love and mercy You show us.  Thank You for giving us faith in Your Son so that we are spared the eternal death and separation from You.  And thank You for showing us by Your own example that we need to take time to rest, to allow our bodies and our spirits a chance to regain strength.  Please, Father, help us as we strive to serve You and Jesus.  Sometimes we get too caught up in the busyness of this world and don’t stop long enough to eat of Your word of life.  Sometimes we forget what matters most.  Please, Father, catch us when we stumble, hold us up when our legs become weary, see us through another day.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service.

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

Lord Jesus, during Your short ministry on earth, You healed thousands of people, not only of physical illnesses and infirmities but also of spiritual weaknesses and failings.  You healed the lame, the blind, the deaf, even brought the dead back to life.  You cast out unclean spirits and renewed souls.  You touched the people or they touched You and were made whole again.  Thank You, Jesus, for touching us and making us well.  Lord Jesus, we ask You to help us show others how we have been healed by Your touch in our lives.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world where hatred and distrust seem to grow stronger each day.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Chosen

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 11th of July, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Saul was a good, devout Pharisee, a religious leader among the Jewish people.  He was dedicated to serving God and willingly did whatever task the synagogue ordered.  This included rounding up those who believed in Jesus as the Christ, and bringing them to trial.

All that was before Jesus struck him blind as he traveled to arrest believers in Damascus.  In that city, Jesus instructed a man named Ananias to go to Saul and restore his sight.  Ananias was hesitant to do so because of Saul’s reputation.  But Jesus told him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel."  A chosen vessel, chosen to do not as the synagogue or other people ordered but as Jesus commands.

Please listen and follow along to what that former Pharisee, now the Apostle Paul, wrote in the opening chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.

I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

9 God has now revealed to us His mysterious will regarding Christ — which is to fulfill His own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ — everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan.

12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.

15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called — His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.

19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else — not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made Him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself.

--Ephesians 1 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for blessing us with spiritual blessings in heaven and physical blessings on earth.  Even before You made the world, You chose us to be one in Christ, to be holy and faultless in Your eyes.  Thank You, God, for so great a gift.  Please help us as we walk through this life.  Help us follow Jesus and do as He commands.  And Father, please keep us safe from Satan and those who do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and our service to Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Reassure us that You chose us to serve Your Son.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus, your Son and our Redeemer.   Amen.

American clergyman Henry Ward Beecher once noted that, "You cannot teach a child to take care of himself unless you will let him take care of himself. He will make mistakes, and out of these mistakes will come his wisdom."  

We who believe in and have accepted Christ Jesus as our Lord are now children of God.  So great is God’s mercy that our freedom from eternal death has been purchased by the blood of His Son Jesus.  And so great is God’s love that our heavenly Father allows us to make mistakes as we try to take care of ourselves.  I only wonder if we are gaining any wisdom from the constant exercise.

Paul was indeed chosen.  Jesus Himself said so.  Paul was chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, chosen to be a servant, chosen to go out and tell everyone he encountered all about Jesus.

Looking at his prior life as a Pharisee, we can see that Saul did not choose to serve Jesus.  Just the opposite!  Saul did not choose Jesus; Jesus chose Saul.  And Paul assures us that we too have been chosen, we who believe in and follow Jesus.

Before He even created the world, God chose us in Christ, chose us to be adopted into His own family, chose us to be brought to Himself through Jesus.  He chose us to share in His eternal, heavenly inheritance with Jesus.  He chose us and showed us His plan of salvation through Christ Jesus, so that we can share that Good News with others.  We are the chosen of God.

Remember that Paul never really walked alongside Jesus.  He was given special insight by Jesus during the three days of his blindness, but he did not experience Jesus one-on-one when our Lord walked among us as a man.

The Apostle Peter, on the other hand, did.  Peter and his brother Andrew were the first two chosen by Jesus to be His disciples, His followers.  Chosen by Jesus.  They did not choose Him, He chose them.  So Peter knows what it means, what it feels like to be chosen by God.  Listen to what he wrote to the early church, from his 1st letter to the persecuted Christians in Asia Minor, chapter 2, verses 4 through 10…

4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but He was chosen by God for great honor.

5 And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple. What’s more, you are His holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. 6 As the Scriptures say,

“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,

chosen for great honor,

and anyone who trusts in Him

will never be disgraced.”

7 Yes, you who trust Him recognize the honor God has given Him. But for those who reject Him,

“The stone that the builders rejected

has now become the cornerstone.”

8 And,

“He is the stone that makes people stumble,

the rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.

10 “Once you had no identity as a people;

now you are God’s people.

Once you received no mercy;

now you have received God’s mercy.”

--1 Peter 2:4-10 (NLT)

Peter says that even Jesus was chosen by God, chosen to carry out God’s plan, chosen for great honor.  And Peter concurs with Paul that we too are chosen.  We are chosen as living stones in God’s spiritual temple.  Not only are we a chosen people, we are also chosen as royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession.  Chosen so we can show others the goodness of God.

I love how that passage ends, with Peter reminding us that once we had no identity, but now we are God’s people.  I think about the labels we place upon ourselves in an attempt to identify ourselves.  Asian-American, Mexican-American, African-American, Irish-American.  Working-class, middle-class, rich, poor, young, old, Baby Boomers, Millennials, Gen X, Y, or Z.  These are labels we chose, not what was chosen for us.

We are God’s people, chosen by Him to serve a better purpose, chosen to be a vessel for Christ Jesus, bearing His name to all the world.  Let us do what we were chosen to do.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for choosing us to follow Your Son.  Thank You for allowing us to bear His name to all the world.  And thank You for granting us eternal life for our belief in Jesus.  Please, Father, help us be better disciples.  Sometimes we are too timid or shy, too hesitant to tell others the Good News of salvation through Jesus.  Sometimes we worry about what others may think, we fear how they might react, or maybe we’re just afraid we won’t say the right words and will do more harm than good.  Please, Father, stand by our side as we try to share the Gospel.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service.

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

Lord Jesus, You hand-picked men to be Your disciples while You walked this earth, to be Your followers, Your friends.  We were also chosen to follow You and serve You.  God chose us and we are His, so we are Yours.  Thank You, Jesus, for making the ultimate sacrifice for us, for taking all our sin upon Yourself so that we can be seen as holy and righteous before our Father God.  Lord Jesus, we ask You to help us be better followers, better servants.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world filled with so much hatred and distrust.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.