The Price of Admission

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 18th of October, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

You don’t have to answer out loud, but have you ever said, “Why me, God!?”  “Why did this happen to me?”  “I’m not perfect by any stretch, but I’ve been pretty good, haven’t I?”  “So why me???”

If you can honestly say nothing like this has ever crossed your mind, then we need to nominate you for sainthood.  I mean, it just seems natural to me - human – to question the God we worship and adore when everything seems to be going against us.  Even atheists ask these questions, although I’m not sure who or what they’re asking them of.

But suffering is part of being human.  Jesus suffered when He was in human form, and He assured us we would suffer, too, even though we follow Him.  Or maybe because we follow Him.

If there is anyone in our Bible who suffered because of their faith and witness, it was Paul.  Perhaps it was life paying him back for so greatly persecuting the church before his conversion.  More likely, though, it was so that he could show the glory of God, so that the people could see that even as he suffered greatly, his faith and belief held strong.  When Paul prayed that Jesus would remove a personal hardship from him, the Lord responded, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”  Jesus certainly worked great things through Paul.

Please listen and follow along as the Apostle Luke recounts an incident experienced by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas during one of their missionary travels.  This is found in verses 8 through 28 of the 14th chapter of Luke’s Book of the Acts of the Apostles, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

8 While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. He had been that way from birth, so he had never walked. He was sitting 9 and listening as Paul preached. Looking straight at him, Paul realized he had faith to be healed. 10 So Paul called to him in a loud voice, “Stand up!” And the man jumped to his feet and started walking.

11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” 12 They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. 13 Now the temple of Zeus was located just outside the town. So the priest of the temple and the crowd brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to the town gates, and they prepared to offer sacrifices to the apostles.

14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings — just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. 16 In the past He permitted all the nations to go their own ways, 17 but He never left them without evidence of Himself and His goodness. For instance, He sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.” 18 But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.

19 Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. 20 But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

21 After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, 22 where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. 23 Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia. 25 They preached the word in Perga, then went down to Attalia.

26 Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of Syria, where their journey had begun. The believers there had entrusted them to the grace of God to do the work they had now completed. 27 Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the church together and reported everything God had done through them and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, too. 28 And they stayed there with the believers for a long time.

--Acts 14:8-28 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.  And now, Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might more patiently await the joy of our Lord Christ Jesus, and the glory You will reveal to us.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Someone once asked C.S. Lewis, "Why do the righteous suffer?"  "Why not?", he replied.  "They're the only ones who can take it." 

The little Our Daily Bread periodical once posted this interesting account:

Parnell Bailey visited an orange grove where an irrigation pump had broken down.  The season was unusually dry and some of the trees were beginning to die for lack of water.  The man giving the tour then took Bailey to his own orchard where irrigation was used sparingly.  "These trees could go without rain for another 2 weeks," he said.  "You see, when they were young, I frequently kept water from them.  This hardship caused them to send their roots deeper into the soil in search of moisture.  Now mine are the deepest-rooted trees in the area.  While others are being scorched by the sun, these are finding moisture at a greater depth."

How deep do our spiritual roots run?  How much hardship and suffering can we endure before our faith weakens and wanes?  How much can we take from the world’s assaults before we begin to have doubts, like Thomas?  Family, we’ve got to let God’s Holy Spirit fully take root and dig ever deeper into our hearts, so that we can find comfort at a greater depth when a spiritual drought hits.

So Paul and Barnabas are preaching to a crowd in Lystra when Paul spots a crippled man listening intently to what Paul is saying.  Paul, through his Jesus-given insight, could tell the man had the faith to be healed, so the Apostle simply shouted to him, “Stand up!”  And the man immediately jumped to his feet and walked around.  I bet he did a little dance with the walking.

When the crowd saw this, they declared Paul and Barnabas to be gods – lower-case “G” gods – and chief among the Greek gods at that.  They decided to go to the temple of Zeus to offer animal sacrifices to these gods among them, but Paul and Barnabas stopped them, declaring themselves to just be humans, like everyone else there.

Now while they did not suffer physically at this point, I can’t help but feel that they suffered spiritually, emotionally.  They were there doing their best to tell the people about the one true God and His Son Jesus, when those same people started calling them gods.  Were they not listening?  Did they not hear anything Paul said?  Only the formerly crippled man seemed to have paid attention to the Apostle’s words.  That had to have hurt, thinking that nothing he had said had made any difference.

But our passage continues and then the physical suffering comes in.  Some Jews came to Lystra from Antioch and Iconium and turned the people against Paul and Barnabas.  The crowd gathered again, this time to stone Paul.  They dragged his battered body out of town and left him for dead.

Of course, he wasn’t dead and he went on and continued his mission trip, making new converts and strengthening the believers, encouraging them to remain strong in their faith.  And then he reminds them, and us, that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.  Suffering is our price of admission to heaven.  Our faith is the key.  Our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord opens the door.  But suffering is the price we pay to be forever saved.

We don’t suffer alone, though, do we.  Jesus suffered, Paul suffered, you and I suffer.  My arthritis reminds me of its presence every time I stand up after sitting for a while.  We suffer, but we can’t let the suffering break us.

In verses 14 through 25 of the 8th chapter of his letter to the church in Rome, Paul encourages us to be patience - yet confident - as we suffer in and through this life...

14 All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

--Romans 8:14-25 (NLT)

What we suffer now, in this life, is nothing – nothing – compared to the glory that will be revealed to us when we go home to heaven.  As we look forward to that glory, we must wait patiently, and confidently – confident in God’s promises, confident in our salvation through Jesus.  As adopted children of God, we are brothers and sisters of Christ Jesus.  To share in His glory, we must also share in His suffering.  This is the price of admission.  But it is a small price to pay considering the rewards to be received.

Family, no matter how much we might suffer in this life, whether physically or emotionally or spiritually, we must continue in our faith, for this is the true price of admission into heaven.  It's not the suffering.  It’s the faith.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of the one true God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for reminding us that suffering hardship is a part of human life.  Even though we follow Your Son Jesus and try to live in a way that pleases You, we know that we are not immune to suffering and pain.  Please help us remain strong when we are hurting, steadfast in our faith through our trials.  Help us accept hardship with courage and grace, as did Jesus and Paul.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to You and our Lord Jesus, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for warning us that we will still suffer hurts and hardships in this life, even though we have accepted You as our Lord and Master.  And thank You most of all for loving us even when our faith fades a little due to our hurting.  Lord, please forgive us when we question why we suffer, rather than accepting it and going on, like You did.  Please help us remain strong and faithful even in our worst days.  Stand with us in our trials.  Let us feel Your presence in the darkness of suffering and the red haze of pain.  But nonetheless, even during our own hardships, help us show Your love through our love.  And in showing Your love, help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

One in the Lord

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 11th of October, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

You’ve probably noticed that prayer is pretty important to me.  And not just for me, but for all of us.  As I’ve said before, prayer is simply our talking with God.  Our heavenly Father loves to hear from His children, and prayer gives us the chance to tell Him how things are going.  And it’s not that He doesn’t know already, He just wants us to spend time with Him.

Jesus understood this concept, and He spent a lot of time talking with His Father.  And it was Jesus who gave us probably the most well-known and most often spoken prayer.  What we call the Lord's Prayer is actually the model Jesus gave us to use in forming our own prayer.  It is not necessarily a prayer He Himself spoke, at least it wasn’t recorded as such in the Gospel accounts.

But one of the longest prayers recorded in our Bible is when our Lord prayed to His Father God.  This is the one we should call the Lord’s Prayer.  In it, Jesus prayed for Himself, for His disciples, and for all who believe and will come to believe.

We believers are His disciples, so we are some of the ones He prayed for.  Think about that…  Jesus, in the flesh, nearly 2000 years ago, prayed for you and me.  Please listen and follow along as our Lord Jesus prays to His Father God in heaven, as recorded by the Apostle John in verses 6 through 23 of the 17th chapter of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New Life Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

6 “I have made Your name known to the people You have given Me from the world. They were Yours but You gave them to Me. They have obeyed Your Word. 7 Now they know that everything You have given Me came from You. 8 I gave them the Word which You gave Me. They received it. They know I came from You and they believe You sent Me.

9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world. I pray for those You gave Me. They are Yours. 10 All that is Mine is Yours. All that is Yours is Mine. I have been honored through them. 11 I am no longer in the world. I am coming to You. But these are still in the world. Holy Father, keep those You have given to Me in the power of Your name. Then they will be one, even as We are One. 12 While I have been with them in the world, I have kept them in the power of Your name. I have kept watch over those You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost except the one who is going to be destroyed, which is the son of death. The Holy Writings said it would happen.  13 But now I come to You, Father. I say these things while I am in the world. In this way, My followers may have My joy in their hearts.

14 “I have given Your Word to My followers. The world hated them because they do not belong to the world, even as I do not belong to the world. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world. I ask You to keep them from the devil. 16 My followers do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Make them holy for Yourself by the truth. Your Word is truth.

18 “As You sent Me into the world so I have sent them into the world also. 19 I set Myself apart to be holy for them. Then they may be made holy by the truth.

20 “I do not pray for these followers only. I pray for those who will put their trust in Me through the teaching they have heard. 21 May they all be as one, Father, as You are in Me and I am in You. May they belong to Us. Then the world will believe that You sent Me. 22 I gave them the honor You gave Me that they may be one as We are One. 23 I am in them and You are in Me so they may be one and be made perfect. Then the world may know that You sent Me and that You love them as You love Me.” 

--John 17:6-23 (NLV)

Let us pray…  Father God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.  And now, Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might be more in one accord in our love of our Lord Christ Jesus, and our love for each other.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

In one of Charles Schultz's Peanuts cartoons, Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn't. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus. 

"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they're nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."

"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?"

Why can’t we Christians get organized like that?  Individually, we can accomplish a little, but when we get together, act in unison, work toward a common goal, we can become a force to be reckoned with.

Too many people, especially in our culture, see the church as fractured, segmented, disagreeing on many doctrinal issues, suffering many of the same divides as does our general society.  This is not what Jesus had in mind for His body left on earth.  We are not supposed to look – and act – like the rest of the world.  We’re supposed to be different, to be more united, to be one in the Lord.  We need to pay more attention to the Holy Spirit and less to the influencers of the world.

Jesus starts out by acknowledging that God gave Him believers, pulled from the world.  We Pilgrims are among those believers.  And Jesus prayed for us, but not for the world from whence we came.  We belong to God, and we belong to Jesus.  And He prays for us, that we may have His joy in our hearts.

And there at the end, Jesus prays to God that we may be one with them, just as Jesus and God are One.  “I am in them and You are in Me”, Jesus says.  Why?  So that we may be one and be made perfect.  Then the world may finally know that Jesus came from heaven, sent by God, showing God’s love for the world.

So what happened?  Why are we believers split into so many denominations, with differing polities and practices?  Why do we argue among ourselves over the silliest things?  Why we do get so upset with each other and just fed up with it all and leave, go looking for another church family to join?  Why can’t we love each other, like Jesus told us to do?

In verses 3 through 6 of the 4th chapter of his letter to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul encourages us to get along with each other...

3 Work hard to live together as one by the help of the Holy Spirit. Then there will be peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit. There is one hope in which you were called. 5 There is one Lord and one faith and one baptism. 6 There is one God. He is the Father of us all. He is over us all. He is the One working through us all. He is the One living in us all.

--Ephesians 4:3-6 (NLV)

We must work hard to live together as one, with help from the Holy Spirit.  There is one God, the Father of us all, over us all, working through us all, living in us all.  And He created us all in His own image.  No one of us is any better than any other of us, not in God’s eyes.  Paul makes this quite clear.  Writing regarding our relationships in the church family, in the 12th chapter of his letter to the Romans, verses 3 through 5, Paul reminds us of our position in the church...

3 God has given me His loving-favor. This helps me write these things to you. I ask each one of you not to think more of himself than he should think. Instead, think in the right way toward yourself by the faith God has given you. 4 Our bodies are made up of many parts. None of these parts have the same use. 5 There are many people who belong to Christ. And yet, we are one body which is Christ’s. We are all different but we depend on each other.

--Romans 12:3-5 (NLV)

We are one body, the body of Christ that He left on earth to continue His mission.  We may all be different, in many ways, but we have to depend on each other to accomplish our goal.  And in the 2nd verse of the 4th chapter of his letter to the Philippians, Paul pleads with us to agree with each other so that we can work together...

2 I ask Euodias and Syntyche to agree as Christians should.

--Philippians 4:2 (NLV)

Euodias and Syntyche were two prominent Christian women, active church leaders in Philippi, who had a bitter personal disagreement with each other.  By this letter, Paul publicly pleads with them to agree with each other in the Lord, as Christians should.  An entire sermon could be written based on this one verse alone, but I’ll save that for another time.

Sadly, even though we, as a church family, may always agree on Jesus, we still manage to bicker over minute details, over little things, over wrongs long forgotten.  This is our failure.  This disappoints both Jesus and God.

We can do better.  We must do better.  Let us dig deep within ourselves and resolve to work more closely together, to agree more readily with each other, to depend more on each other so as to better accomplish the job Jesus gave us.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of the one true God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for loving us all  and for giving us the gift of faith to believe in Jesus as Your Son and accept Him as our Lord.  Through Him, we are reconciled to You, adopted into Your family, made one with You.  Please help us work together better so we can more closely come to being one with each other.  Help us live our days as Christians should, in ways pleasing in Your sight, and not as the world lives.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to You and our Lord Jesus, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us a model that we can form our own prayers around.  And thank You most of all for praying for us.  Lord, we do want Your joy to be ours every day, all year long.  But sadly we just can’t always get along like we know we should.  Please help us nourish our relationships with each other as we grow closer to You.  Help us truly love each other as we love ourselves.  Help us show Your love through our love.  And in showing Your love, help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Of Infinite Value

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 4th of October, 2026.  Today's service also included observance of Holy Communion with our Lord.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Family, think of what is most important to you.  Sadly, in our current society, “things” have taken on the most importance for many people.  The best name-brand clothes, the newest cars, the largest houses – these are what matter to them.  Even life itself pales in importance to things for some.  We’ve all heard the horror stories of folks being killed for their possessions, even just for their sneakers.

These people have no thought of tomorrow, only of today.  They don’t care about anything other than themselves, about what they can get, about what someone else can do for them.  Self-serving, self-loving, maybe even self-idolizing.  When Jesus commanded us to love others, He meant other people, not other things.

There once lived a Pharisee named Saul.  He was a good Pharisee, a devout Jew, faithful to God’s law and Jewish custom.  And while he never personally saw or knew that heretic blasphemer, that rogue preacher from Nazareth, he was dead set on putting an end to the new movement this Man started, this New Way they called it.

At that point in his life, this was the most important thing to him - this mission, this goal.  But then he met Jesus while on a dusty road to Damascus, and everything changed.  Please listen and follow along to what that meeting meant to Paul, as he recorded in the first 14 verses of the 3rd chapter of his letter to the Philippians, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin — a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not yet achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 

--Philippians 3:1-14 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.  And now, Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might be moved to value the gift of our Lord Christ Jesus above anything this life has to offer.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

The little Our Daily Bread periodical once published this short article:

A story is told of a man who loved old books.  He met an acquaintance who had just thrown away a Bible that had been stored in the attic of his ancestral home for generations.  "I couldn't read it," the friend explained.  "Somebody named Guten-something had printed it."  "Not Gutenberg!", the book lover exclaimed in horror.  "That Bible was one of the first books ever printed.  Why, a copy just sold for over two million dollars!"  His friend was unimpressed.  "Mine wouldn't have brought a dollar.  Some fellow named Martin Luther had scribbled all over it in German."

Ahhhh…  one man’s trash…  Some folks simply can't see the true value in things, in ideas or concepts, or even in other people.  And sadly, too many people can’t see the infinite value in knowing Jesus.  That’s where we come in, that’s why Jesus gave us the mission to tell others all about that value.  Jesus is our treasure, and can be theirs, too.

To say that Paul was profoundly affected by that encounter with Jesus would be an understatement.  In the common vernacular, he did a complete 180.  One day he was mightily persecuting the church, and all in the name of God, and then three days later he was the church’s greatest supporter.

In those three days of blindness and total dependency on others, Jesus spoke to him, giving him all the knowledge and information needed to spread the Gospel everywhere he went, and now all in the name of Jesus.  He learned the truth, and the full value of that truth.  And he set about sharing that truth to safeguard our faith.

That truth also led him to realize that he, and we, can put no confidence in human effort, in human constructs, in the things we make, no matter how accomplished or talented the maker might be.  We can rely only on Jesus.

Then Paul lists some of his credentials that put him in high standing in the Jewish community.  He was a pure-blooded child of Israel, haling from the house of Benjamin – Jacob’s youngest – a real Hebrew.  He was an obedient Pharisee, strictly adhering to the Jewish customs and laws, zealously persecuting the church, righteously obeying the Law of God.  All this would have held him in high esteem, much like a good, well-paying career, a big lovely house, a nice new car, a loving wife and family, and service to the community would hold a person in high esteem in today’s society.

At one time, this was precious to him.  A good name and reputation, good standing in the community, and an important mission to accomplish, were all of great value to him.  But now Paul had come to realize all this was worthless, when compared to what Jesus had done for him.  “Yes,”, Paul exclaims, “everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Everything else is worthless.  All our cars, all our jewelry, all our houses and money and tools and appliances and all our things are worthless when comparing to simply knowing Jesus.

Knowing Christ is of infinite value.  But how do we know that we know Him?  The Apostle John, in his 1st letter to the early church, tells us how…

1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the One who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins — and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

3 And we can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

--1 John 2:1-6 (NLT)

How can we be sure that we really know Jesus?  How can we make that great value ours?  To truly know Jesus and gain that infinite value, we must follow Him and obey His commands.  We must live our lives as Jesus did.  We must love others, without conditions, without expectations of reward or even of being loved in return, ever willing to give and to forgive.

Family, we have been given such a great gift in the faith to follow Jesus as our Lord.  And when we strive to live as Jesus lived, obeying His commands, we will realize and understand the infinite value just in knowing Him, as Paul realized and understood.

So let’s get out there and follow the most basic commands Jesus gave us, the mission He set before us, to spread the Gospel and make more disciples.  In this we will be showing the love of Jesus through our love, that fewer will be left behind when He returns.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the treasure of infinite value.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for filling the Apostle Paul with Your Holy Spirit, with so much fire and strength and determination that he spread the Gospel throughout the known world, making disciples of Gentiles when rejected by his own people.  His work and dedication are an example for us all.  Please help us follow Paul’s lead in carrying out the mission Your Son Jesus gave us.  Help us live our days in a way that is more pleasing in Your sight.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to You and our Lord Jesus, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for allowing us to know You.  By Your words and Your deeds, recorded for us by the faithful Gospel writers, and by our prayers and service, we grow ever closer to You.  Please help us follow more closely the example You set.  Help us live more closely as You lived, so that we can share in the infinite value of Your glory.  Help us show Your love through our love.  And in showing Your love, help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

To Forgive

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 27th of September, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Family, think for a moment…  How often do you say the words, “I’m sorry”.  Now, because of my difficulty in understanding human speech at times, I tend to say it a lot, like, “I’m sorry…  Could you repeat that, please?”  Of course I usually shorten that to just, “Huh?” or “What?”, but you get the idea.

That’s not the kind of “I’m sorry” I’m talking about here, though.  I mean the kind where we’re apologizing for something wrong or hurtful we just did, even if unintended.  Now remember, I asked you to just think about this, but how often do we really, sincerely mean those words, rather than just being socially nice?  And how often do we hear, “I forgive you”, in return?  If we are sincerely apologizing for some ill-conceived word or deed, aren’t we hoping for forgiveness?  Or, again, is it just the socially acceptable thing to do?

Last week we read where the Apostle Paul said to "Pay all your debts except the debt of love for others — never finish paying that!"  Today I'd like to look at what we may consider another type of dept: a debt of forgiveness.  Oh, and there is definitely a risk in being unforgiving.

Please listen and follow to a lesson Jesus gave about forgiveness, that began with a question Peter asked, as recorded in verses 21 through 35 of the 18th chapter of the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold — along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned — to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

--Matthew 18:21-35 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for such a good example of forgiveness being extended and forgiveness being withheld, of a forgiving person and an unforgiving person.  You make it clear that we are to be forgiving of others.  Thank You, Father, for yet another life lesson in our bible.  And now, Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might be moved to forgive others in the same way we wish to be forgiven.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Writer Michael Williams notes that, “In his book, Lee: The Last Years, Charles Bracelen Flood reports that after the War Between the States, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her house.  There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Union artillery fire.  She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss.  After a brief silence, Lee said, ‘Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it.’”  Flood continued, “It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain, lest bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life.”

Forgiving someone for a wrong they committed against us can benefit us more than the offender.  It removes the heavy burden of hatred and bitterness from our shoulders, from our lives.  It allows us – albeit slowly, maybe – to forget the injustice and go on with life.

Peter asks, “Is seven times enough to forgive someone who sins against me?”  Jesus answers, “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”  So let’s see…  Seventy times seven comes to 490.  It may take a while, but I guess on the 491st sin I can stop forgiving them.  Right?

No, that’s not exactly what Jesus meant.  He was just throwing out a larger number based on what Peter proposed to emphasize to His disciple that we are to forgive and keep on forgiving no matter how long it takes, no matter how many times we are sinned against, no matter how much it hurts.  Because that’s how many times God forgives us for our sins against Him.

Now, before anyone can say, “But I don’t sin against God anymore.”, when was the last time you said a cross word or had an angry thought against someone else?  When was the last time you judged someone?  When was the last time you turned your back on another’s need?

Family, we all sin.  We are all fallen, we all fall short of the glory of God, as the Apostle Paul puts it.  And God forgives us every time, and all because we accept Jesus as His Son and our Lord.  Not only does He forgive us, but He puts it aside and forgets we ever did anything wrong.  But a lot hinges on our showing forgiveness in turn.

In His parable, Jesus tells of a ruler who forgave the debt of a man who owed him a great amount.  But when it came his turn to forgive a paltry debt owed him, that man refused to forgive and demanded immediate payment.  When the ruler learned of this, he had the man hauled back in and tossed in prison until his debt had been paid in full.

The ruler called the man evil for not having mercy on his fellow man when the ruler had shown mercy to him.  And the lesson of the parable is clearly stated, that this is how God, our heavenly Ruler, will treat us if we refuse to forgive our fellow brothers and sisters.  Oh, and it must be sincere forgiveness, from the heart, Jesus says, and not just lip service.

Much earlier in his Gospel account, Matthew gives us a recording of what we have come to call the Sermon on the Mount, arguably the most important and impactful sermon Jesus ever delivered.  In that sermon, Jesus gives us a model of a prayer, one we can use to fashion our own prayers from, but which we have pretty much adopted as “the Lord’s Prayer”.  In that model prayer, Jesus includes…

12 "and forgive us our sins,

as we have forgiven those who sin against us."

--Matthew 6:12 (NLT)

And He follows it with…

14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."

--Matthew 6:14-15 (NLT)

There again is that risk I mentioned.  If we refuse to forgive others, for any reason, God will not forgive us.  Unforgiveness results in being unforgiven.  In one version of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.”  If we truly believe in the words of our bible, then this alone should be all the incentive we need to be more forgiving of others in our daily walk.

The English poet Alexander Pope wrote the now well-known line, "To err is human, to forgive, divine."  This isn't to imply that only God, the Divine, forgives, but that to forgive others is godly, divine in its nature.

We're all human, we're all fallible, we all make mistakes, and we all need to be forgiven.  Let us set aside any feelings of pride or of being wronged when we seek forgiveness and when we forgive.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who showed us what love and forgiveness is all about.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for forgiving us of our sin.  Your Son redeemed us, and by our discipleship of Him we are forgiven.  We know that we are imperfect, prone to do things that hurt others, that make Your frown.  Please help us cast aside all our sinful ways.  Help us live more righteously, more pleasing in Your sight.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to You and our Lord Jesus, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us a good example of a forgiving person.  Thank You especially for the multiple warnings of what may become of us if we are not forgiving of others in this life.  To not be forgiven by our Father God would be a terrible fate.  Please help us be more forgiving.  Help us put aside all pride so that we can seek forgiveness for harms we’ve done.  And help us forgive and forget harms done to us.  Help us show Your love through our forgiving attitude.  And in showing Your love, help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Fulfilling the Law

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 20th of September, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome lately, for a number of reason.  First and foremost, it’s what the Spirit has led me to.  Which probably resulted in the other reasons.

I’ve mentioned before that Paul wrote this letter in part as an introduction of himself to a church he hoped to visit, but had not yet had the chance to.  So reading this letter lets us know the great evangelist a little better.  Paul uses this opportunity to give clarity to the Gospel message, as well as to address and heal the cultural and religious tensions between Jewish converts and Gentile believers.  And let’s face it…  we have some cultural and religious tensions right here in the United States, don’t we, and between our various Christian denominations at times.  So we could use a little of that healing, too.

But an even greater reason for spending a little extra time in this letter is that Paul instructs us in how the Gospel message should change our everyday behavior.  In other words, he tells us believers - we Christians - how we should live and act each day we walk this earth, especially as relates to interacting with others.

Remember that before his conversion, Paul was a devout and devoted Pharisee.  He was very familiar with God’s Law as handed down by Moses, so familiar that he saw this Jesus movement, this New Way, as a violation of that law.  You might say that Paul was an enforcer of the law.  That all changed when Jesus came to him on the road to Damascus.

Please listen and follow along as Paul tells us how to fulfill all of God’s law, and why, in verses 8 through 14 of the 13th chapter of the Apostle’s Letter to the Romans, and I’ll be reading this from The Living Bible version of our Holy Bible this morning…

8 Pay all your debts except the debt of love for others — never finish paying that! For if you love them, you will be obeying all of God’s laws, fulfilling all His requirements. 9 If you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself you will not want to harm or cheat him, or kill him or steal from him. And you won’t sin with his wife or want what is his, or do anything else the Ten Commandments say is wrong. All ten are wrapped up in this one, to love your neighbor as you love yourself. 10 Love does no wrong to anyone. That’s why it fully satisfies all of God’s requirements. It is the only law you need.

11 Another reason for right living is this: you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for the coming of the Lord is nearer now than when we first believed. 12-13 The night is far gone, the day of His return will soon be here. So quit the evil deeds of darkness and put on the armor of right living, as we who live in the daylight should! Be decent and true in everything you do so that all can approve your behavior. Don’t spend your time in wild parties and getting drunk or in adultery and lust or fighting or jealousy. 14 But ask the Lord Jesus Christ to help you live as you should, and don’t make plans to enjoy evil.

--Romans 13:8-14 (TLB)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for changing Paul’s heart and making of him a great missionary and evangelist.  Through his efforts, and in spite of the tribulations and suffering he endured, many churches were formed and people throughout the known world came to Jesus.  And through his writings and correspondence, we today can gain greater insight into Your law and what You expect of us.  Thank You, Father, for giving the Apostle that words to share with us that helps explain what Your law boils down to, and why we should follow it.  And now, Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might be moved to more closely follow Your law.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

This is going to be a rather long story, but please bear with me.  I think you’ll appreciate it.  It was told by Brennan Manning in his book The Ragamuffin Gospel.

A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers ‘the Little Flower’ because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel.  He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. 

One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city.  LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.  Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread.  She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving.  But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges.  “It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor.”, the man told the mayor.  “She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson.”  LaGuardia sighed.  He turned to the woman and said “I've got to punish you.  The law makes no exceptions -- ten dollars or ten days in jail.”

But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket.  He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: “Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat.  Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.”  So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.

The law makes no exceptions – it must be fulfilled.  But sometimes the Judge forces us to truly understand the law as He sees it.  And then makes sure we fulfill it the way He wants.

Our passage opens with Paul telling us to pay all our debts except for the debt of loving others, which we should never “pay off”.  It can be easy to overlook the first part of that because of the impact of the second part.  As Christians, we should pay off all our debt, owing no one except for owing them our love.  Admittedly, that is nearly impossible in our times, with exorbitantly high prices and costs of everything, not to mention relatively easy credit.

Then Paul gets into the meat of the message.  All of God’s commandments – do not murder or steal, do not lie or covet others or commit adultery – all of them are summed up in the one rule to love our neighbor as we love ourself.  When we practice love, we will be purposeful in doing no harm, for loves does no wrong to others, fulfilling God’s moral law by not murdering them or lying to them or any of the rest of the commands.

Paul tells us that the time is growing short, that we need to wake from our spiritual sleep, which also means that we need to double-down on our efforts to help others come to Jesus – in itself an act of love.  Finally, the Apostle warns us to cast off our sinful behaviors and live more honorably, more righteously, focusing on Jesus rather than on living to enjoy what this life offers.

Earlier, right before our responsive reading, I said that loving others can be tough.  Well, trying to keep the Ten Commandments can be tough, too.  If that were easy, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to come into this world and die for us to be redeemed.  But what if we could condense all those ten into one?  Wouldn’t that make it easier?

When Paul claims that all ten of God's commandments are wrapped up in the one that says to love your neighbor as you love yourself, he is echoing the words of Jesus to the scribe as reported by the Apostle Mark in the New King James Version of chapter 12 verses 29 through 31 of his Gospel account, when Jesus said…

29 “The foremost of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

--Mark 12:29b-31 (NKJV)

Now, remember that Paul never knew Jesus before Jesus blinded him on the road to Damascus.  He didn't walk with Jesus during His ministry.  He didn't hear Him speak to the scribe or the Sadducees or the crowds.  So how could he know what Jesus said?  Because during his three days of blindness, Jesus told him everything so that he could carry out the mission the Lord was about to give him.

Paul also says the time is running short, that we should live righteously while we can, for Jesus will return when we least expect it.  The Apostle John is shown what will happen on that day, as he recorded for us in the 7th verse of the 1st chapter of his Book of Revelation when he wrote…

7 See! He is arriving, surrounded by clouds; and every eye shall see Him — yes, and those who pierced Him. And the nations will weep in sorrow and in terror when He comes. Yes! Amen! Let it be so!

--Revelation 1:7 (TLB)

All of the earth will see Him and know He has returned.  But most of the population will cringe in terror, finally understanding the truth.  Jesus said it first, though, when He warned His disciples as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in verse 30 of the 24th chapter of his Gospel account, by saying…

30 “And then at last the signal of My coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning all around the earth. And the nations of the world will see Me arrive in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.”

--Matthew 24:30 (TLB)

And for most, it will be too late.  Paul warns us to not be in that doomed group.

Family, we have been chosen to believe in Jesus as the Son of God, the Christ, our Redeemer and Savior.  We have been given the faith to believe, and to know Jesus as our Friend.  We put our faith and belief into practice by fulfilling God’s law, by loving others.

Let us ignore differences, put aside prejudices, forgive past wrongs, and love one another.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who showed us what love is all about.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You again for inspiring Paul to be so prolific in his writings to instruct us and tireless in his efforts to expand Your Son’s church and Your kingdom.  When we study his letters and his life, we gain greater insight into righteous living and what pleases You.  Please help us follow his example of faith and dedication.  Help us in our efforts to truly love our neighbor.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your law and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for emphasizing that loving God and loving others are the greatest of the commandments.  So many times during Your short ministry on earth, You spoke of the importance of loving others.  And You lived Your life that way, loving all by offering them salvation, coming to us so that all might be saved.  Thank You, Lord, for showing us what love means.  Please help us obey that command to love others.  Help us put aside all preconceived notions and show Your love through our love.  And in showing our love, help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Our Citizenship

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 13th of September, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

When I’m doing a memorial service for a dearly departed, I like to mention that the date of birth and the date of death are separated by only a little dash.  But that short dash represents every breath we took on this earth, every second of our life here, every beat of our heart.  I also feel that the dash is representative of our life span, for our life here on earth is very short when compared to our next life, which will last forever.

For those of us who follow Jesus as our Savior and Lord, that everlasting life will be in heaven - our true home.  We’re just passing through here, pilgrims wandering through this wilderness, so to speak, seeking a new land to migrate to.  Our permanent address lies elsewhere.

There's been a lot of talk about citizenship in recent years, stirred mostly by illegal immigration.  Now we're seeing a debate over ending what has been called "birthright citizenship".  When we look at how poorly some people fare in other parts of the world, we can understand why they would want to become US citizens.  While our country certainly isn't perfect, it is far better than many and opportunities for self-improvement still abound here.

Personally, I am proud to be a citizen of the United States of America.  I love our country, and especially our Constitution, and I defend both when the need arises.  But honestly, I know that this is not my home.  Yes, I was born here, and yes, I'll likely die here.  But that's when I'll truly go home.

The Apostle Paul knew what I'm talking about.  He felt what I feel.  Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote to the church in Philippi in Macedonia, as I read from chapter 3 verse 1 and verses 17 through 21 and the 1st verse of chapter 4 of the Apostle’s Letter to the Philippians, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

3:1 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under his control.

4:1 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.

--Philippians 3:1,17-21;4:1 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for adopting us as Your children so that we have a home to come to when this life is over.  By our belief in and acceptance of Your Son Jesus, You allow us to come home to live with You and Him forever.  We thank You, Father, for loving us so much and giving us such a great gift.  So Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might be moved to help others find their way home to You, too.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

James Packer, English-born Canadian evangelical theologian and author, in his book Your Father Loves You, wrote:

“We know very little about heaven, but I once heard a theologian describe it as ‘an unknown region with a well-know inhabitant’, and there is not a better way to think of it than that.

Richard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines:

‘My knowledge of that life is small,

The eye of faith is dim,

But it's enough that Christ knows all,

And I shall be with Him.’

To those who have learned to love and trust Jesus, the prospect of meeting Him face to face and being with Him forever is the hope that keeps us going, no matter what life may throw at us.”

One of the benefits of any homecoming, any time we come home, is to see familiar faces again.  When we do finally go home, we will see a face we’ve never seen before.  We’ve see it depicted in paintings and movies and TV shows, but we have never laid eyes on the actual face, the face of our Lord Jesus.

It’s that face we long to see, and that longing that gives us hope and keeps us going.  Some day, when we close our eyes for the last time on this earth, we will open them again and see that glorious face.  For those who believed, the face will be smiling.  And Jesus will say, “Welcome home.”

In our passage this morning of his letter to the Philippians, Paul states that we are citizens of heaven.  We’re not citizens of Israel or Greece or really even the United States.  We are citizens of heaven.  Heaven is our homeland.  So we should act like it.

Now, our bible, and especially the writings of Paul, has many examples and instructions as to just how we Christians should behave, so Paul doesn’t need to elaborate here.  But he pretty much sums it up when he encourages us to “stay true to the Lord”.  Stay true to the Lord, and focus on the things of heaven.  Keep our eyes on Jesus and focus on the things of home.

Jesus clearly knew where His home was.  During our Lord's farce of a trial, Pontius Pilate asked, "Are you the king of the Jews?"…

36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, My followers would fight to keep Me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But My Kingdom is not of this world.”

37 Pilate said, “So You are a king?”

Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”

38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked.

--John 18:36-38a (NLT)

That comes from verse 23 through the first part of verse 38 of the 18th chapter of the Apostle John’s Gospel account.

I don’t think Pilate understood.  Jesus is our King, the One we worship and serve.  His kingdom, His home, is not of this world.  So our kingdom, our home, is not of this world.

Like so many others today, Pilate couldn't accept that there is absolute truth, even when it was staring him in the face.  An earthly authority, bound up by worldly concerns, could not see the truth of God's kingdom.

Reaffirming that this world is not our home, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote in the 11th chapter and 13th verse that we are "foreigners and nomads here on earth".  (Hebrews 11:13c (NLT))  He followed that up in verses 11 through 17 of his 13th chapter when he wrote…

11 Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. 12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make His people holy by means of His own blood. 13 So let us go out to Him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace He bore. 14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to His name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

--Hebrews 13:11-17 (NLT)

This world is not our permanent home.  We are looking forward to a home yet to come.  There's our challenge.  Let us offer ourselves - our time, our resources - in service to Jesus.  And let us go outside the camp, out into the greater community, to share our witness.

In a little while we’ll all go back home and maybe kick off our shoes and relax a bit.  And then, in a little while, we’ll go to our true, permanent home.  That is where all our treasure is laid up, waiting for us, where thieves can’t take it, moths can’t eat it, and rust can’t ruin it.  We’ll be home forever with our Lord and Savior.

Oh what a glorious day that will be.  But until that time, let’s keep our eyes on Jesus and on service to our Lord.  And let’s act like Christians are supposed to act.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who has our home all prepared for us.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for creating us in Your image, and having pity on us even when we sinned.  You made a way for us to be able to come back to our true home, even though we don’t deserve it.  Please help us keep our faith in our Lord, Your Son, strong.  Help us show the world Your love by sharing Jesus with all we encounter during our walk through this life.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, before You left us to go home to heaven, You promised that You would prepare a place for us there, for when we, too, come home.  Thank You for the promise that fuels our hope, knowing that we will live for all eternity with You and our Father God in heaven.  But until that time comes, Lord, please help carry out the mission You gave us.  Help us show our love for others by sharing the Good News of an everlasting home in heaven that awaits all who come to You.  Help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Real Love

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 6th of September, 2026.  We have air conditioning again, so if all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Over and over in our bible, we are told to love one another, and how important love is.  Jesus says to love God is the greatest commandment, and to love others is the second most important.  But how do we love?  What does truly loving others entail?  Must we also love the unlovable?

I want to pick up where we left off last week while working through the Apostle Paul's Letter to the Romans.  He had just finished encouraging us to make of ourselves a living sacrifice in service to God and Jesus - to give of ourselves, our time, our resources - since Jesus sacrificed His own mortal life for us.  Today, he continues with ways we can show our love.

Please listen and follow along as Paul answers those questions about truly loving others, as I read verses 9 through 21 of the 12th chapter of the Apostle’s Letter to the Romans, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;

I will pay them back,”

says the Lord.

20 Instead,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.

If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap

burning coals of shame on their heads.”

21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

--Romans 12:9-21 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, You know that way too often we have trouble loving all others.  Even within our own circles of friends and acquaintances, there are some we simply cannot force ourselves to truly love as Paul says we should.  Thank You, Father, for inspiring the Apostle to give us clarity on how we should love, and to love all people, not just those we find loveable.  So Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might be moved to love others as You love us.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Each Sunday I like to include a little illustration to sort of set the stage for the message.  Today's illustration is short, but powerful.

Today in the Word magazine once noted where British Protestant minister and preacher John Henry Jowett proclaimed that, “Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing.”

“Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing.”  Sadly, folks that receive something of value for free, something they didn’t earn or work for, they don’t treat it very well and it doesn’t hold up or last.  If it costs nothing, it is often seen as worthless.  Jowett is saying the same holds true for ministries.

Think for a moment about some of our ministries here at Pilgrim, with the most obvious being our services every Sunday morning.  If I stood up here and just looked at you, and the choir and Mary Ann sat there silently, and we all spent an hour here just looking at each other, our gathering would accomplish nothing.  If we don’t make the effort to help out in the greater community, and maybe bring a few lost souls to Christ, would we really have accomplished anything as the church, the body of Christ left on earth to carry on His work?  We've got to be willing to work at our service for Jesus, to give of ourselves helping others, in order to truly accomplish something worthwhile.

In verse 11 of our scripture reading, where Paul says, “work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically”, one version puts it, “let the Spirit excite you as you serve the Lord”.  Now, working hard is a relative term.  Some of us are no longer capable of hard labor, but that doesn’t mean we can’t strive diligently to serve our Lord by showing our love to others.

Not only that, but we can also be enthusiastic in our service, can’t we?  We can let God’s Holy Spirit living within us excite us into even greater enthusiasm, and greater joy, in our service.  We can “work hard” at whatever level of service we can provide, even if it’s just being nice to people.

Paul goes on to give us some good advice when he says we should be patient in times of trouble, and to keep praying.  We know those times will come.  Jesus Himself warned us they would.  But they will also pass, so we just need to be patient and let things play out in God’s great plan.  And in good times and bad, we should be ready to help God’s people when they are in need.

Who are “God’s people”?  All of us, all of mankind.  God created us all in His image, so we are all His.  Rather than cursing those who harm us or make us mad, we should pray for them and bless them.  Treat an enemy with love and kindness and turn them into a friend.  And we shouldn’t seek revenge for any mistreatment.  That’s above our pay grade, for God says “Vengeance is Mine”, not ours to exact.  Oh, and we must not be too proud of ourselves, thinking ourselves better than others, smarter than others.  All of this is how we can show true love to others, how we can really love them and not just pretend to.

Loving all others is tough.  I mean let’s face it…  how many of us could truly love the likes of Adolph Hitler, or your regular garden-variety terrorist?  Too often we let hatred rule us rather than love.  Please listen as wise King Solomon fills us in on the results of our usual treatment of others, in verses 18, 20, and 23 of the 25th chapter of his Book of Proverbs…

18 Telling lies about others

is as harmful as hitting them with an ax,

wounding them with a sword,

or shooting them with a sharp arrow.

20 Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart

is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather

or pouring vinegar in a wound.

23 As surely as a north wind brings rain,

so a gossiping tongue causes anger!

--Proverbs 25:18,20,23 (NLT)

Add to this list what Jesus said, when He told us that hating someone is the same as murdering them.  This shows a vindictive nature, not a loving one.  We may smile and be nice to their face, but if we’re holding onto anger toward them in our hearts, we are not loving as God and Jesus command us to love.

In our scripture reading, Paul directly quotes two passages from what we now call the Old Testament.  The first is from the Book of Deuteronomy when Moses speaks for God saying, “I will take revenge, I will pay them back”.  This is what I referred to as, “Vengeance is Mine”, as some bible versions put it.  God will take care of distributing rewards and punishments, as He sees fit.  He doesn’t need our help.

Paul also quotes what King Solomon says in verses 21 and 22 of the 25 chapter of his Book of Proverbs, in between the verses of what I read a moment ago, as the king tells us how we should act towards those we see as our enemies…

21 If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat.

If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.

22 You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads,

and the Lord will reward you.

--Proverbs 25:21-22 (NLT)

Now, our goal in treating our enemies with kindness should not be to cause them shame, but to show them love as part of God’s creation and as God commands us.  So yes, we should show real love and mercy even to our enemies.  And the Lord will reward us for our acts of kindness.

To really love all others, we must always strive to live in harmony with each other.  This means our relatives and friends, our fellow worshipers, our brothers and sisters in Christ, the non-believers in our community and across the globe, and even those who hate us.

We must do all we can to live in peace with everyone.  Even in our overly-contentious world, we can make it a purpose to not engage others in hostility, even when they are acting in a hostile manner toward us.  This is what Jesus meant in His Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.”

Let us be purposeful in loving others – all others.  And let us truly love them, not just pretend to.  Let us love them as Jesus loved us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who showed us what love is all about.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for giving us so many instructions in our bible about loving others, and especially how to love them.  By Your gracious love of us and the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, we are granted eternal life with You in heaven.  Please help us share that wonderful gift with others, showing them the way to Jesus, so they too might be saved.  Help us show them our love.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for showing us how to love.  Thank You for giving Paul so much insight into Yourself and Your teachings that he was able to share it will all the known world, and even us today.  Please help us love in the same way that You love: selflessly, unconditionally, sacrificially.  Help us show that love by sharing the glorious Gospel message with others.  Help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.