All for Love

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 1st of March, 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.]

So, if you would, please think back a bit and remember that we had two successive Sundays of ice and snow, forcing us to cancel worship services.  Well, today’s message was originally intended for the Sunday after Valentine’s Day, two weeks ago.  I guess you could say I’m finally catching up from the snow days.

But I feel this topic is relevant every day of the year, not just on Valentine’s Day.  And I believe it to be the main theme of our New Testament.  Jesus is the primary subject, but love is the main theme.  Everything that Jesus did was ultimately all for love.

One of Jesus’ most prolific apostles, both in terms of church starts and letter writing, was originally a great enemy of the church.  The young Pharisee named Saul traveled far and wide to round up Christians and bring them to Jerusalem for trial, and often for execution.  But then one day Jesus blinded him to show him the truth.  From that day forward, Paul became the number one proponent for the early church, going on three long missionary journeys, starting churches along the way, suffering beatings, hatred, and imprisonment, and writing letters.  Among those letters was one to the Christians in Rome.

Now Paul had not yet visited the church in Rome, but he badly wanted to.  So he wrote this letter partly as an introduction, to let the folks there know a little about him before arriving.  The main theme of the letter, though, was a thorough discussion of our justification with God by His grace.  Sadly, when Paul did finally make it to Rome, it was under arrest and in chains.

Please listen and follow along as Paul speaks of our justification, in the first 11 verses of chapter 5 of his letter to the Romans, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

--Romans 5:1-11 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for being so merciful toward us poor sinners and sending Your Son to redeem us.  By Your grace and His sacrifice, we are made right in Your eyes.  Father, we are a prideful people, and too often our pride is our downfall.  We even let it get in the way of loving others as we know we should.  Sometimes we have trouble just showing love to our fellow Christians.  And then there are some people we just can’t force ourselves to love.  Please forgive us, those times, Father, when we are unruly and rebellious children.  Please help us be more righteous in our daily walk.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Since today’s theme is “love”, I thought a little background on that word to be appropriate.  I probably mentioned this before, but the ancient Greeks had three words for love: eros, philia, and agape.  Eros refers to passionate, intimate, romantic love.  It is an intense love, often driven by desire.  Philia is what we would call brotherly love.  It is seen in deep, true friendships and shown in shared loyalty.  Think of the nickname for Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.

And then there's agape.  Agape is often described as the highest form of love.  It is the unconditional, selfless, sacrificial love for others, often associated with God's love.  The thing is, the word "agape" seems to have virtually been coined for Christians - a new word for a new concept.  The word draws its meaning from the love of God for humankind revealed through His Son Jesus.  It is completely unlike eros and philia.  It is not a form of natural affection or attraction.  It is brought about by a force of will, not by feelings or emotion.  Christians are commanded to love others, even those they dislike.  This is not love as the world defines it or knows it.  This is love as God expects it and shows it.  This is agape.  And when we speak of love in the biblical context, it is agape we’re talking about.

Paul opens this chapter reminding us that our redemption, our now good-standing with God, is a gift from God.  Nothing we have ever done, nothing we could do, could bring this about; only God’s grace.  Then he makes a statement that, while true, many have trouble accepting: that troubles and trials ultimately benefit us.

And then Paul mentions love for the first time, God’s love for us.  He alluded to love at the start, the love of God through Jesus, through the gift of faith, through God’s grace.  But here he makes clear that God loves us because He gave us His Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

Of course, that’s not the greatest gift, for that comes next.  While we were utterly helpless, while we were lost in our sin, God sent His Christ at just the right time, and He died for us sinners.  By Jesus’ death, by His blood, we were restored in God’s sight.  And it was all because of love, agape love, God’s love for His creation.

As I said, Paul wrote many letters.  We know of two that were sent to the church in Corinth, the first to retore the holiness of the church, and then a later follow-up to correct some misconceptions that arose since his visit there, especially as regards his apostolic authority.  But scholars believe there may have been a third letter, written and delivered in between these two.  If so, it has long been lost to time.

But there is a passage in that first letter that is fairly well known, at least in paraphrase, and that is very pertinent to our discussion this morning.  Please listen as I read the first seven verses and verse 13 from chapter 13 of Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians…

1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

13 Three things will last forever — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love.

--1 Corinthians 13:1-7, 13 (NLT)

Love is patient and kind, not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way or keep a record of wrongs and hurts it suffers.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, never loses hope, and endures anything and everything it faces.

Does this sound like romantic love, that usually fades over time?  Or like familial love, that can be destroyed by a single harsh word?  No, this is agape, the love we Christians are called and commanded to give and to live.

You don’t have to like someone to show them love.  You don’t have to agree with their politics or theology.  You don’t have to approve of their lifestyle.  You just have to show them God’s love.  Affection and romance have nothing to do with it.  This is agape: intentional, maybe even forced, unconditional, selfless, sacrificial love.  The kind of love Jesus has for us.  The same love that led God to send His Son to save us.

The Roman poet Virgil penned the phrase "Love conquers all" around 37 BC, 30-some years before Jesus was born.  Did Virgil know that love would soon visit the world?  Virgil followed that phrase with "let us, too, yield to love".

Our challenge, family, is to do what Jesus commanded us to do: to love others and make disciples of them.  Let us then yield to Jesus, who came as love in the flesh.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the true God of Love.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for showing Your love by sending Your Son to redeem us.  And thank You for giving us faith.  We believers exercise that faith to acknowledge that Jesus is Your Son, and to accept Him as our Lord.  But Father, we know that many of our actions displease You.  Too often we fail to love others as we love ourselves.  Even agape love seems out of our reach.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  And forgive us when we hesitate to show the courage and strength to try and make more disciples for Your Son.  Please strengthen us to show the world the truth and share Your love with the lost.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You loved Your Father God and carried out His will.  And You showed His love for us by giving of Yourself for us.  By Your sacrifice, we have been made right with God, reconciled back to Him.  You came to us when we had no hope, no chance of redemption, and You redeemed us.  It is this selfless, sacrificial love that You expect us to show others.  But Lord, You know how difficult this can be for us.  We struggle to show agape to all, even sometimes to our fellow believers.  Please forgive us our weaknesses, Lord Jesus.  Please strengthen us and encourage us to go out into the world telling others all about You.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost 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.

Ruffling Feathers

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 22nd of February, 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.]

Have you ever heard someone says words to the effect, “I’m going to ruffle some feathers tonight”, or maybe, “their feathers were really ruffled in that debate”?  Well, did you know that the idiom “ruffled feathers” has been in use since the 1820s?  Someone back then noticed that when certain birds – like chickens and roosters in particular – got angry or annoyed or threatened, they would ruffle up their neck feathers.  Its a defense mechanism, to make them look bigger, stronger, less vulnerable to attack.  Much like when a dog’s hackles get raised.  Both terms – “their feathers are ruffled” and “their hackles are raised” - are expressions used to describe an angry person, an annoyed person, or maybe someone backed into a corner and ready to fight.  Oh, and there’s another one: “backed into a corner”. 

A lot of times our feathers get ruffled because of our pride - our feelings get hurt, someone says something we don’t like, our opinion is disputed.  It annoys us so much that we get angry and try to retaliate in some fashion, usually with stinging words.  “I’ll just take my ball and go home.”  But our annoyance can also come from our confusion.  Our feathers can get ruffled when we’re faced with a situation or circumstance we just don’t understand.  We don’t know how else to react than to puff up.

Last week we looked at how Jesus often dished out tough love, even to His own disciples.  He did so because He loves us and wants us to always do what is right so we don’t get hurt, especially when it comes to eternal hurt.  Well, for some people, like the Pharisees, that tough love usually resulted in ruffled feathers.

That’s something else Jesus was good at: ruffling feathers.  Sometimes His actions and words made certain people angry, sometimes He confused them, and sometimes they were just angry because they were confused.  Like the time Jesus secretly went to Jerusalem for the Festival of Shelters, so that no one would know it was Him.  Please listen and follow along to how this visit played out, as recorded by the Apostle John in verses 14 through 36 of the 7th chapter of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the Easy to Read Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

14 When the festival was about half finished, Jesus went to the Temple area and began to teach. 15 The Jewish leaders were amazed and said, “How did this Man learn so much? He never had the kind of teaching we had!”

16 Jesus answered, “What I teach is not My own. My teaching comes from the One who sent Me. 17 People who really want to do what God wants will know that My teaching comes from God. They will know that this teaching is not My own. 18 If I taught My own ideas, I would just be trying to get honor for Myself. But if I am trying to bring honor to the One who sent Me, I can be trusted. Anyone doing that is not going to lie. 19 Moses gave you the law, right? But you don’t obey that law. If you do, then why are you trying to kill Me?”

20 The people answered, “A demon is making You crazy! We are not trying to kill You.”

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle on a Sabbath day, and you were all surprised. 22 But you obey the law Moses gave you about circumcision — and sometimes you do it on a Sabbath day. (Really, Moses is not the one who gave you circumcision. It came from our ancestors who lived before Moses.) Yes, you often circumcise baby boys on a Sabbath day. 23 This shows that someone can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the Law of Moses. So why are you angry with Me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? 24 Stop judging by the way things look. Be fair and judge by what is really right.”

25 Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “This is the Man they are trying to kill. 26 But He is teaching where everyone can see and hear Him. And no one is trying to stop Him from teaching. Maybe the leaders have decided that He really is the Messiah. 27 But when the real Messiah comes, no one will know where He comes from. And we know where this Man’s home is.”

28 Jesus was still teaching in the Temple area when He said loudly, “Do you really know Me and where I am from? I am here, but not by My own decision. I was sent by One who is very real. But you don’t know Him. 29 I know Him because I am from Him. He is the One who sent Me.”

30 When Jesus said this, the people tried to grab Him. But no one was able even to touch Him, because the right time for Him had not yet come. 31 But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, “We are waiting for the Messiah to come. When He comes, will He do more miraculous signs than this Man has done?”

32 The Pharisees heard what the people were saying about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple police to arrest Him. 33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent Me. 34 You will look for Me, but you will not find Me. And you cannot come where I am.”

35 These Jews said to each other, “Where will this Man go that we cannot find Him? Will He go to the Greek cities where our people live? Will He teach the Greek people there? 36 He says, ‘You will look for Me, but you will not find Me.’ He also says, ‘You cannot come where I am.’ What does this mean?”

--John 7:14-36 (ERV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for inspiring the men who recorded Jesus’ life and words for us in their Gospel accounts.  Without their writings, we would know very little about Jesus, and certainly not how often He confounded the religious leaders of His day and left them confused and usually angry.  Father, we love You and Your Son, and we’re aware that we don’t always show it.  Too often we fail to follow our Lord’s commands.  Sometimes we argue among ourselves, our fellow Christians, when we should be showing our love.  And then there are some people we just can’t force ourselves to love.  Please forgive us, these times, Father, when we when we are disobedient children.  Please help us be better servants, and more righteous in our daily walk.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Someone now unknown once said that, "Safety consists not in the absence of danger but in the presence of God."  Another unknown source added to that concept when they said, the "Peace that Jesus gives is not the absence of trouble, but is rather the confidence that He is there with you always."

These are strong words of encouragement for those of us who believe in and trust in God and Jesus.  But what of the non-believer?  Will they ever know peace, or just constant turmoil, followed by everlasting torment and pain?  We might ruffle their feathers a little, or maybe a lot, but we can show them the love of Jesus and in doing so they just might come to know Jesus as their Lord and be spared a horrible fate.  Share some love, spare some love, and help the lost.

You might need to reread the scripture passage to catch all the ways that Jesus poked the Jewish leaders, and their confused and angry responses.  It started right off the bat, when He secretly entered Jerusalem and then the Temple, without anyone knowing His identity.  And He began to teach in His unique, eloquent way that we’ve read in other passages, like in His Sermon on the Mount.  You can almost hear the sarcasm and indignation in the leaders’ response.  “How did this Man learn so much when He hasn’t had the education we had?”  His reply only served to prod them more, especially when He added, “Then why are you trying to kill Me?”

Up until this point, no one knew who He really was, but now some were starting to catch on.  But they also noticed that even though He was teaching in a way like none other, no one was trying to stop Him.  Could He really be the Messiah?  No, wait… we know this Man is from Nazareth, up around Galilee.  He can’t possibly be the Messiah, can He?

It’s like Jesus heard them, or read their minds, for He answered, “Do you really know Me?”  “Do you really know where I’m from?”  And He answered His own question, basically saying He is from God.  Which is true, but too many didn’t want to believe it so they tried to grab Him, but couldn’t, because His time had not yet come and God wouldn’t allow it.

The final confounding point came when Jesus told them He was leaving soon and they’d no longer see Him, no longer find Him, and they could not follow to where He goes.  And He left them scratching their heads.

A little later on, after the festival had ended, Jesus made some of His earlier comments clearer and more to the point.  Listen to what John saved for us of this little episode, from the 8th chapter of John’s Gospel account, verses 21 through 24…

21 Again, Jesus said to the people, “I will leave you. You will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going.”

22 So the Jewish leaders asked themselves, “Will He kill Himself? Is that why He said, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?”

23 But Jesus said to them, “You people are from here below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don’t belong to this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins. Yes, if you don’t believe that I Am, you will die in your sins.”

--John 8:21-24 (ERV)

“If you don’t believe that I Am”.  “I Am”, the response God gave Moses when he asked His name.  Jesus is God, the great I Am.  Jesus rebuked the Jewish leaders that they would die in the sin for not believing that He is God.

To die in your sin is eternal damnation!  This is why Jesus came to redeem us of our sin so we would not die as sinners, but as saved.  By our belief, we are washed clean of our sin, forgiven, and seen as righteous in God’s eyes.  The religious leaders would not be granted salvation because of their disbelief.  Talk about ruffling feathers!  What could be worse for someone who thought they were serving God than to be told they were doomed to eternal pain and suffering, forever separated from God?

In our scripture reading last week, Jesus told us that He didn’t come into the world to bring peace, but rather a sword.  He meant His message would split the people, divide them, create a schism between believers and non-believers.  He would be rocking the boat, ruffling feathers, shaking up core values and common perceptions.  He would be doing all the things that would make some people hate Him and try to silence Him, even do away with Him.  In other words, everything that happened just as He and God planned.  And yes, He ruffled a lot of feathers, He poked the bear one time too many.  But in doing so, He changed the world.  And now, billions know His name.

Our challenge, family, is to do what Jesus commanded us to do: to love others and make disciples of them.  Not everyone is going to be very happy at our attempts.  We’re going to ruffle some feathers.  But that’s OK; Jesus did the same thing in His attempts to bring people to righteousness.  He will be at our side, helping is along the way.  And the Holy Spirit will even give us the words to say, when we can’t find the right ones on our own.

Don’t be afraid to ruffle a few feathers.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for sending Your Son to redeem us.  And thank You for giving us faith.  We believers exercise that faith to acknowledge that Jesus is Your Son, and to accept Him as our Lord.  But Father, we know that many of our actions displease You.  We too often fail to obey Your commands.  And we know this is not righteous on our part.  Please forgive us these times, Lord.  And forgive us when we hesitate to step out of our comfort zone to try and make more disciples for Your Son.  Please strengthen us to show the world the truth while ignoring its temptations.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You didn’t hold back when talking to the people, and especially when addressing the scribes and Pharisees.  You warned them and us of the horrible fate that awaits those who refuse to accept Your truth.  You made believers everywhere You went, but You also ruffled plenty of feathers.  The family of this house chooses to believe You, Jesus, and we try to follow Your example.  Thank You, Jesus, for showing us the way to righteousness.  Please strengthen us and encourage us to go out into the world telling others all about You.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost 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.

What Are We Waiting For?

 

[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Wednesday afternoon, the 18th of February, 2026 - Ash Wednesday.  A recording of our service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

http://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for our older services and https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

As we enter into the Lenten Season, we are challenged to use this period for self-examination and introspection, to see if we are living as God would have us live.  It’s a great time to dig deeper into our Bibles, studying the Gospels, listening to Jesus, witnessing what He did while He walked among us.  And we can read the letters His closest friends and followers wrote to help the early church.  For by watching Jesus and studying the letters, through the eyes and the words of those who walked alongside Him, we can see how we, too, should live and act.  Perhaps most importantly, we can use this time and this study to honestly determine if we truly and fully believe in and put complete trust in Jesus, using our level of obedience as a key indicator.

This afternoon, we’ll step back to the time just after Jesus sent His 12 disciples out in pairs to spread the Gospel.  He then visited some nearby cities to teach and preach to the people.  At one town, two disciples of His kinsman John the Baptist, who was at that time in prison, came to question if Jesus really was the long awaited Messiah.  After sending them away to repeat to John all they had seen and heard, Jesus turned back to the crowd and told about the kingdom of God.  But John’s doubt may have generated a bit of consternation in Jesus, for He included some very stern warnings in His words.

Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Matthew recorded for us in his Gospel account, in chapter 11 verses 20 through 24 and chapter 12 verses 38 through 42, and I’ll be reading from the New King James version of our Holy Bible this afternoon…

11:20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”

--Matthew 11:20-24;12:38-42 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, one of the most useful features of our Bible is that it provides us with a view into the life of Jesus.  You inspired four of His apostles to leave records of His life, some very detailed, allowing us to witness important events of His ministry.  Thank You for so wonderful a gift.  Father, please help us follow the examples Jesus set for us.  Help us remember all that He told us, including the warnings, so that we don’t perish in sin.  Please stop us when we begin to wander off into the wilderness, tempted by the devil to disobey You.  Forgive us those moments when our faith waivers and we wish for a sign that Jesus is with us.  Forgive us when we deny Your Son by our actions and reactions that mimic the world rather than show us as separate from the world.  Please strengthen us in our efforts to share the Gospel message and protect us from the wrath of non-believers if we step on a few toes along the way.  This we pray in the name of Jesus, Your Christ and our Lord.  Amen.

Each year, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and is always 46 days before Easter Sunday.  Lent is a 40-day season (not counting the six Sundays) marked by repentance, fasting, reflection, and ultimately celebration.  The 40-day period represents Christ’s time of temptation in the wilderness, where he fasted and where Satan tempted him.

Lent asks believers to set aside a time each year for similar fasting, marking an intentional season of focus on Christ’s life, His ministry, His sacrifice, and His resurrection.  And, of course, the best way to focus on Jesus’ life and ministry is to read and study our Bible.  So let’s look back at what led up to the event in our scripture reading.

After His baptism in the River Jordan by kinsman John, Jesus began His ministry on earth.  He would have been around 30 years old at the time.  First He called twelve men to be His disciples.  Together they traveled from village to village, city to city, with Jesus turning water into wine, healing people of all manner of illnesses and infirmities, even raising the dead back to life.

Through these miraculous acts, many came to believe that He truly was the Messiah, including a Samaritan woman He spoke with at a well.  And yet the religious leaders didn't believe, couldn’t believe, wouldn’t believe, refused to believe.  Testing Him, they demanded more proof, more miracles.

They stirred up the populace of city after city, turning the people against Jesus.  It got to the point that the leaders and those under their thumb refused to acknowledge and believe what they saw with their own eyes.  “We want to see a sign from You.  Show us a sign.”

And then Jesus discloses one of those beautiful aspects of our Bible.  He uses an event in what is now our Old Testament as an example of what is described in our New Testament.  He reminds the scribes and the Pharisees of what happened to Jonah and with the people of Nineveh.  And by mentioning the time Jonah spent in the giant fish’s belly He foretells His own fate.

The point is that the people of Nineveh didn’t really need a sign to repent.  All they needed was to hear Jonah preach, and I’m sure his speech, his enthusiasm, and his effectiveness were heavily influenced by his time in that fish, which was his own sign from God.

As for the queen of the South, the Queen of Sheba, she traveled all that way just to hear Solomon words of wisdom.  And yet, here is One far greater than Solomon, standing there among them, but they still refused to believe.

I mentioned that during the earlier days of His ministry, Jesus called twelve men to be His disciples.  One of those men was the author of our scripture reading this morning: Matthew, also called Levi.

It happened that one day Jesus passed by the tax office where Matthew was working, collecting taxes from the people.  Tax collectors were particularly despised by the Jewish people because they considered them sinners, traitors, working for the Romans.  Many of them were actual sinners, taking more than was required by Rome and keeping the difference for themselves, although we have no evidence that Matthew was dishonest in any way.

As Jesus passed by, He stopped and called Matthew to join His group and follow Him.  Matthew immediately left his office and his duties to follow Jesus, a pattern set by Andrew and Simon, James and John.  That evening, Jesus and the disciples all gathered at Matthew’s house to dine together.  Matthew tells us what happens next, as recorded in the 9th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 10 through 13…

10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

--Matthew 9:10-13 (NKJV)

Why all the signs?  Why all the teaching and healing?  Why all the traveling from town to town on foot just to cure and preach?  Because Jesus came to call us sinners to repentance, and He needed to get our attention first.  And while all the religious leaders may have thought themselves righteous, they also were sinners.  Jesus tried to call them, too, but they just would not hear, or hearing, they would not listen.  They refused to believe, even with all the signs.

So I have to ask, how much more proof do we need before we will truly believe, before we will listen, before we will answer the call?  What are we waiting for before we take up our cross and fully follow Jesus?

We say we believe, we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, but do our actions follow our words?  If we fully, whole-heartedly accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master, if we did as Matthew and committed ourselves to following Him, then we would obey His commands.

There’s really only two, and they actually join together into one.  We would love all others, just as we love ourselves, just as Jesus loves us.  And how does Jesus love us?  Unconditionally, sacrificially, selflessly, giving love while expecting nothing in return.

And the second part of that command is that we go into the world making disciples for Christ.  We are to go out to where the people are, not just sit here and wait for them to come to us.  We are to tell them all about Jesus, about the things He did and taught, about what He means to us.  This would be our way of loving others, even those who would reject us, despise us, work against us, just like they did to Jesus.

We’ve seen the signs, and not just those recorded for us in our Bible.  We’ve seen the hand of God, we’ve seen the effects of Jesus on a human life.  We’ve seen all we need to see so let’s stop waiting for some big miraculous sign.  Let us repent, turn from our sinful ways and turn fully to God.  Let us spend more time in prayer, in studying our Bible, and in introspection.  And let’s get to work for Jesus.  In the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, You sent Your Son Jesus to redeem us of our sin, to save us from ourselves.  He gave everything for us, asking only that we follow Him and love one another.  Thank You, Father, for loving us this much.  Please help us avoid straying off the path of righteousness, through this Lenten season and all the days ahead.  May we never forget or take for granted the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.  Please help us share the Good News, the Gospel message, everywhere we go so that non-believers might also be saved.  In the beautiful name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Family, as we begin our journey into the season of Lent, the cross looms in sight just ahead, a stark reminder that we have been forgiven and shown mercy by God, even though we’ve done nothing, nor can we ever do anything, to deserve it.  Our Father commands that we be forgiving and merciful, too, in our dealings with others.

God made a covenant with us and signed it with the blood of His own Son.  We acknowledge our end of that covenant by our baptism and our service to our Lord Jesus.  Part of that service is to repent, to turn from our sin, for Jesus called us to repentance while announcing that the kingdom of God is at hand.

To help us resist the temptation to sin, we can spend more time with God, both in prayer and by studying His word.  We can also strengthen each other in our gathering together to work, play, and fellowship.  Let’s use this time to better serve and obey our Lord.  In the name of our Redeemer, the Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Tough Love

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 15th of February, 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, are you familiar with the phrase, “tough love”?  It’s when we force someone to do something for their own good even if they don’t want to do it, or we make them take responsibility for their actions, and all because we love them and care about their future.  Movies and TV shows usually showed it being carried out in family interventions with addicts, or the like.  But it can even apply when a parent disciplines their child.

If we love someone enough, we want them to always do the right thing, to stay out of trouble, to keep themselves healthy and safe from harm.  It isn’t that we’re being mean.  It’s an act of love.  Tough love, to be sure – tough on the person it is being applied to, and also tough on the one applying it.  We don’t want to hurt someone we love, even if just a little bit, but sometimes it becomes necessary when looking after their wellbeing.

Being God, Jesus knew why He was sent to earth, He knew what He was sent to do, and He knew how it would all turn out.  His fate was foretold at His birth, with the gift of myrrh, used to anoint the bodies of royalty for burial.  He saw the cross over the great distance of time.  And He loved us enough to want to save us all, and that sometimes required tough love, even when addressing His chosen followers, His twelve.

Please listen and follow along as Jesus instructs His twelve before sending them out as Apostles, in pairs to the villages and towns in the region, telling them what to expect, telling it like it is.  This was recorded by the Apostle Matthew in verses 32 through 42 of the 10th chapter of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning – this is Jesus speaking…

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” 

--Matthew 10:32-42 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for inspiring the men and women who authored the books of our Bible, and especially for the men who saved Jesus’ life and words for us in their Gospel accounts.  Father, we truly are a stubborn, stiff-necked people.  Sometime we need to be smacked up-side the head to get our attention.  Sometimes we need tough love.  Thank You for loving us enough to be tough on us when we need it.  Please keep after us.  Please forgive us, Father, when we resist Your Holy Spirit’s guidance as He tries to keep us on the righteous path.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote:

“Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor, act as if you did.  As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets.  When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.  If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more.  If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”

We are to love others whether they love us back or not.  Love can be painful, especially when it isn't returned.  But sometimes love must be painful, so that we can get the message.  Sometimes we need to be awakened from our stupor.  Sometimes we need to be blinded to see the truth.  This is the whole idea behind tough love: helping someone get the help they need for their own good, even if it hurts.

We humans can, and often do, stubbornly resist doing the things that are good for us.  We get set in our ways.  And too often those ways are the ways of the world.  In that respect, the disciples were no different from us.  Even though they walked with Jesus, watched Him, listened to Him, learned from Him, they too struggled at times to break the world’s grip over their words, actions, and thought patterns.  So from time to time, Jesus had to rebuke His closest disciples, the ones He loved most, the ones He chose.

I think most of us will be familiar with one of those times, even though we might not have seen it in this light.  Jesus had been telling His disciples about what was coming, that He would soon be handed over to the authorities, be beaten and killed.  Peter vehemently denied this news, saying it would never happen.  Please listen to what followed, also recorded by Matthew, in the 16th chapter of his Gospel account, in verses 23 through 27…

23 But [Jesus] turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”

--Matthew 16:23-27 (NKJV)

Was Jesus calling Peter Satan?  No!  But He was rebuking His disciple for continuing to think as Satan would have him think, reasoning and reacting in the ways of the world rather than understanding what Jesus had been trying to tell him and the others all along.

And family, this is His message to us as well.  When we conform ourselves to the ways of the world, think as the world would have us think, react as the world wants us to react, we lose our focus on the things of heaven.  We stop thinking, acting, and reacting as God would have us do: in a loving manner.

And this is why, from time to time, God will rebuke us, through Jesus’ words or through conviction by the Holy Spirit.  It’s not because God is mean and wants to see us suffer.  It’s because He loves us, and wants us to do what is in our best interests.  He’s looking after our well-being when His Holy Spirit punches us in the gut or gives us a swift kick.  It’s tough love, and it’s for our own good.

This coming Wednesday – Ash Wednesday - marks the beginning of Lent, the time for repentance, for introspection, and for prayer.  As we approach the season of Lent, we need to remember that everything Jesus did, He did out of love; His love for His Father, God's love for us.  Sometimes, it was tough love, but always meant to help us.  So we should look at the cross as an emblem of love, a symbol of love, a love that we too should carry and share.

And let us take a good hard look at ourselves, at our hearts, at our interactions with others.  Let’s pray that God will dish out a little tough love on us if…  no… when we need it.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, our Redeemer, our Friend.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for loving us and wanting us to do the right thing at all times.  And thank You for those doses of tough love to keep us on the straight and narrow.  Father, we know we can often be easily convinced to act in ways that displease You.  And we know this is not good for us.  Please forgive us these times, Lord.  And forgive us when we fail to do as You and Jesus command.  Please strengthen us to show the world the truth while ignoring its temptations.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You came to this earth to redeem all of mankind of our sin and to offer us all salvation.  You warned us to leave the world behind so that we can take up our own cross and follow You.  And You showed tough love, even to those who believed in You, even to Your chosen twelve.  You rebuked the Pharisees and scribes, You rebuked Your disciples, and You rebuke us when we go astray.  Thank You, Jesus for helping us stay righteous in our Father God’s eyes.  Please strengthen us and encourage us to not be afraid to show a little tough love, too, when it is needed, but remind us to emphasize the “love” part of that discipline.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost 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.

Children of the Devil

 

[Successive ice and snow storms kept us out of church for two weeks in a row, so this is the first since mid-January.  The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 8th of February, 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, do you remember the phrase, “Who’s your daddy”?  It was popular slang years ago, heard in a lot of movies and TV shows, implying dominance of one person over another, like a daddy dominates his child.  Sometimes it was spoken more as a kindness, a promise to take care of the other person, like a daddy looks after his child.  Either way, it speaks of the relationship between a father and his children.

Jesus tells us that because of our belief, because of our faith, we are children of God, so if anyone ever posed that silly question to us, we could answer, “God’s our daddy”.  But then, isn’t it fair to ask, who is Satan the daddy of?

Stepping back to the days our Lord walked the earth, the Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus for Him to say if she should be stoned, as demanded by Moses in the Law.  We know the story… Jesus told them whoever had never sinned could throw the first stone.  And one by one the Pharisees turned and walked away.  Once He forgave the woman and told her to sin no more, the Pharisees accused Him of bearing witness of Himself and they claimed themselves to be children of Abraham, children of God.

Please listen and follow along to how Jesus responded, as recorded by the Apostle John in verses 37 through 47 of the 8th chapter of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning – this starts out with Jesus speaking…

37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”

39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.”

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father — God.”

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

--John 8:37-47 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for adopting us as Your children.  And thank You for giving us the faith that makes that adoption possible.  Father, we are well aware that there are those who serve Satan.  We see evil all around, with the devil’s hands at work everywhere in this world.  He has turned the minds and hearts of so very many people who now do his bidding, whether they realize it or not.  This can happen even to good people, just as Saul didn’t realize he was doing the work of Satan as a Pharisee before Jesus showed him the truth.  It’s been said that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to stand by and do nothing.  Please give us the courage to stand against evil, to resist temptation, and to not give in to the children of the devil.  Please forgive us, Father, when we falter and remain silent.  Strengthen us in the fight for goodness.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Nigel Wright, in his 1990 book, The Satan Syndrome, wrote:

“The devil is not impersonal like stones or bureaucracies; he is a non-person.  The Devil has become all that God is not; he is not beyond personality -- he is without it.  His purpose in creation is not to destroy God; he knows that he cannot do that.  He wants to draw us into the vortex of non-personhood that he has become, and the nothingness of non-being that he is becoming.  Satan, in short, aims to take as many of us with him as he can.”

Prominent English Puritan pastor and prolific author, Thomas Brooks, added:

“Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst;

he promises honor and pays with disgrace;

he promises pleasure and pays with pain;

he promises profit and pays with loss;

he promises life and pays with death.”

Pray for those who Satan calls his own.  And pray for those who are perilously close to falling under his spell.  His offers always look and sound so great, so interesting, so wonderful, but they always end just the opposite.

We were created in the image of God, not of Satan.  Righteousness looks good on us.  Evil looks horrible, it just doesn’t fit.  Sadly, it’s not always easily recognizable, for Satan is the great deceiver and very good at hiding the truth.  Our best defense is prayer and trusting in God.

Family, we see the effects of sin all around us in the world today.  We see Satan's children gleefully at work carrying out his mission.  It’s not like we haven’t been told the difference between what is right and what is wrong.  Way back when the Israelites first fled captivity in Egypt and were wandering in the wilderness, God, through Moses, clearly commanded them…

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

--Exodus 20:13-17 (NKJV)

This was so important for us to understand and remember that God made sure it was included twice in our scripture.  Moses recorded these words - five of the ten commandments - first in his Book of the Exodus, chapter 20, verses 13 through 17, and then again in the Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verses 17 through 21.

The Apostle Matthew recorded Jesus in the 5th chapter of his Gospel account, in verse 21 and the first part of verse 22, during our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount when Jesus warned…

21 “You have heard that it was said to those in ancient times, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”

--Matthew 5:21-22a (NKJV)

This is a warning from Jesus that again carries God’s instruction of what is evil, and then adds clarity to it.  Murder is bad, and the murderer will stand in judgment for that act.  But Jesus says we run the risk of that same judgment if we get angry at someone for no good reason.

Now, I think that we humans can always come up with a “good” reason for getting mad at someone else, but would God consider our reason good and just?  We must be careful of anger, for it is a dangerous weapon, to ourselves and to others.

And then there’s the Apostle Paul, a man who surely knew about the personal perils of sin.  As the Pharisee Saul, he watched and held the cloaks of the men who stoned and martyred Stephen, agreeing to his execution.  He travelled far and wide under the authority of the chief priests and religious leaders, rounding up those early Christian converts and bringing them in for trial, often leading to more executions.  How ironic - murder in the name of God.

But then Jesus blinded Saul so He could open his eyes to the truth, and Paul became aware of and convicted of his sin.  Therefore he could write this to the church in Rome, from verses 1, 18, 25 & 26, and 28 through 32 of his Letter to the Romans…

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...

25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator...

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, greed, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

--Romans 1:18, 25, 26, 28-32 (NKJV)

This is perhaps the greatest warning for us to resist the devil’s attempts to sway us.  Paul says that the wrath of God has been shown against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

Think about how many times in our Bible we read of God exercising His righteous wrath against the evil acts of mankind.  There’s the exile from the garden, the great flood, the Tower of Babel, the destruction of Sodom, the drowning of Pharoah’s army, the walls of Jericho, 40 years in the wilderness and the serpents released there, the rending of the Temple veil, and so on and so on, all examples of how God reacts to evil.

So yes, we have ample proof and knowledge of what is good, and what is evil.  We see the children of the devil dancing as he plays the tune, spreading evil with every note, every step.  If only we were as dedicated to serving God and Jesus as they are in serving the devil.

The choice is ours.  We can remain the children of God, or we can start calling Satan our daddy.  Let’s serve God, spread goodness, and stand firm against evil.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God,  our Brother, our Savior, our Friend.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for revealing what is good in Your eyes and what is evil.  And thank You for leaving us so many examples of how You react to the evil deeds of mankind.  We know that Satan is the ultimate evil.  Since he can’t defeat You, He tries to pull us away from You, through deceit, through temptations, through lies.  His children run amok, doing his work, creating chaos, tearing down the names and good works of the righteous.  Father, please forgive those who knowingly and unknowingly do the devil’s bidding.  And forgive us when we allow ourselves to be led astray by the world’s ways and Satan’s charm.  Please strengthen us to stand in the face of evil and fight for righteousness.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You remind us of what is good and bad, and even give more clarity to God’s commands.  Most of all, You show us righteousness by how You lived Your own life while You walked among us.  Thank You, Jesus for teaching us how to live so that we’ll be seen as right in God’s eyes.  Thank You for showing us the way and the truth.  Please strengthen us and encourage us to take action in the fight against the devil.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost 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.

Are We Disciples?

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 18th of January, 2026.  This service is the third of our hybrid series - part traditional and part modern.  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.]

In our responsive reading a few minutes ago, we listed many ways we Christians can show our love for each other.  We said that true fellowship is close communion with God and with one another.  That word “communion” means more than sharing the body and blood of Jesus a few times each year.  A communion is also an association, a close group of like-minded individuals having a common religious faith or shared interest.  While we are all unique persons, often with differing opinions and from different backgrounds, the one thing we have in common is Jesus, our belief in Jesus.

But being a Christian – a real Christian – requires more than just believing in Jesus, even more than affirming Him as the Son of God.  Demons know exactly who - and what - Jesus is, but they’re not Christians.  Being a Christian means being a disciple of Christ Jesus, and being a disciple means following Him, following the example of His life, and living it.

Not long after feeding the 4000, Jesus and His disciples traveled by boat to the region of Magdala.  Some Pharisees and Sadducees came there and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign, too, like He had done for the 4000 and so many others.  He refused, telling them they’d already received signs, including the sign of the prophet Jonah and his time in the belly of a fish and in Nineveh.  Then Jesus took the disciples and went to the Gentile city of Caesarea Philippi.  It was there that Jesus delivered a very important lesson to His followers.

Please listen as the Apostle Matthew shares this lesson with us, as recorded in the 16th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 13 through 27, and as read by Myrna Davis from the New American Standard Bible version of our Holy Bible.

13 Now when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was the Christ.

21 From that time Jesus began to point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. 22 And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s purposes, but men’s.”

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds.”

--Matthew 16:13-27 (NASB)

Before going further, I’d like to clarify that when Jesus speaks of what is bound on earth and heaven, that thing is forbidden on earth and in heaven.  Likewise, when something is loosed on earth and in heaven, it is permitted, allowed.  And when He says “if anyone wants to come after Me”, we can read that as “if anyone wants to follow Me”.  To be His disciple means to deny self, carry the burden of the cross, and follow the path He set.

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, You have given each of us a measure of faith to believe that Jesus is Your Son and our Redeemer.  Then it’s up to us what to do with that faith.  We can accept Him as our Lord and do our best to carry out His commands, or we can sit back and let our faith grow lukewarm or cold.  Father, too often we forget that Jesus expects our faith to lead us to be His disciples and to make more disciples in turn by sharing the Gospel with others.  He wants us to truly follow Him and His example.  Please help us put aside the ways of the world and be better followers.  Help us return hatred with love, violence with prayer and forgiveness.  Help us be more like Your Son Jesus as we walk through this life.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us.  Tell each of us what we need to hear.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Christian educator and clergyman Nathan Schaeffer once wrote:

At the close of life, the question will not be,

"How much have you gotten?" but "How much have you given?"

Not "How much have you won?" but "How much have you done?"

Not "How much have you saved?" but "How much have you sacrificed?"

It will be "How much have you loved and served," not "How much were you honored?"

The things the world values, God sees as insignificant.  Focus on the things of heaven, do the will of God.  This is how we follow Jesus, who always did the will of our Father God.

My dear friend the Rev. Dr. Allen Tyndall once told me that, "The mark of a disciple of Jesus is to be an influence on the culture in which we live."  Too many good Christians allow the culture to be an influence on them, rather than the other way around.  But it’s hard to let go of the world.  I mean, we’re born into it and live all our days in it.  We breath it, smell it, hear it, taste it, feel it.  It’s everywhere we go and always in our sight.

The trick is to live in the world but not of the world.  This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he told us not to be conformed to the world.  Jesus warned that the world will hate us if we follow Him, and no one really wants to be hated, so I think this is one reason some people choose to not fully follow Jesus, or at least not to let anyone other than their fellow believers know that they follow Him.

The thing is, we’re supposed to have a positive influence on the world.  And we do that by bringing more people to Christ.  But we want to sit still in the boat and not make any waves.  We want to quietly worship God and Jesus without ruffling any feathers.  We trust in the Lord, but not so much that we’re willing to go out on a limb for Him.  So are we really disciples?

If we do call ourselves Christians, followers of Christ Jesus, how will anyone know?  The Apostle James, half-brother of Jesus, says that our good works will give evidence of our faith, our belief, our discipleship.  I believe, though, that this is simply a follow-on to something Jesus once said.

Spreading the Gospel message and making more disciples isn’t the only thing Jesus told us to do.  Some might say it wasn’t even the most important command He left us with.  The Apostle John recorded this other command for us, and I think this fostered James’ discourse on faith and works.  Hear the words of Jesus as saved for us by John in verses 34 and 35 of the 13th chapter of his Gospel account…

34 “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

--John 13:34-35 (NASB)

Some of us have trouble even loving other believers, let alone non-believers.  But if we honestly love one another, all others, we will try to help them out of trouble.  And there’s no greater trouble than eternal damnation, everlasting pain and punishment.

This is where James’ good works comes in.  To help the non-believers, we do as Jesus commanded and share the Good News with them.  They may accept it, they may not.  But at least we’ll have planted a seed.  Someone else may come along and till the ground and water that seed.  The seed may grow and flourish into a beautiful spirit, or it may wither and die.  At least we’ll have tried, and we’ll have done what Jesus commanded.  Then we can truly call ourselves disciples.

While looking for and capturing the music for this service, I did a quick Google AI search on discipleship.  Here’s a summery of the result:  “The mark of a disciple of Jesus is a transformed life characterized by love for God and others, obedience to His teachings, bearing spiritual fruit like love, joy, and peace, actively making new disciples, and a commitment to prayer, worship, and fellowship within the Christian community, all rooted in a surrendered, learning heart that follows Christ daily.”  As much as I hate to admit it, not being a big fan of AI, I believe this nails discipleship.

Let’s do a little self-examination and note how many of those traits we can see in ourselves.  And then let’s work on all the rest.  Then, if someone asks are we disciples, we can truthfully answer, “Yes”.

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

Let us pray…  Almighty God, by Your love and mercy, You gave us the faith to believe in and follow Your Son Jesus.  But sometimes we have trouble with the “follow” part.  We hesitate to share our faith in public, to talk to someone we don’t know and tell them about Jesus, to reach out the hand of fellowship and love to folks who may hate what we believe in.  Sometimes we even struggle to love our fellow believers.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  We thank You for the faith You’ve given us.  Please embolden us to put that faith into action, so we can truly call ourselves disciples.

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 live by how You lived.  You had a greater impact on the entire world than anyone else who has ever walked this sod, yet You only ask that we help change our little corner.  Please help us ignore any effect the culture may have on us, and help us instead to influence the culture.  Help us make a positive change in the world around us, in our own neighborhood and community.  Help us be more open in showing our faith, putting Satan behind us so that we don’t stumble.  Please forgive us when we struggle to love others, or even talk to them about You.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, sharing Your love as we go.  Help us be true disciples.

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.

Persecution

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 11th of January, 2026.  A recording of our 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.]

As I mentioned last week, today is when we celebrate the baptism of the adult Jesus in the River Jordan by His kinsman John.  Persecution began almost immediately, when Satan set his sights on Jesus there in the wilderness.  Of course, God kind of set this up since He had His Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness, there to be tempted by the devil.  But the persecution that our Lord had to endure started much, much earlier than this.  In fact, it began within days of His birth.

We’ve been listening as the Apostle Matthew recalled for us the birth of Jesus and the visit of the wise men from the east.  Now please pay attention as Matthew continues with his Christmas story into an event that is often overlooked or ignored, or forgotten, one that is not so pleasant to read and recall, as recorded in verses 13 through 23 of the 2nd chapter of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the Child and His mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”

14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the Child and Mary, His mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called My Son out of Egypt.”

16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. 17 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A cry was heard in Ramah —

weeping and great mourning.

Rachel weeps for her children,

refusing to be comforted,

for they are dead.”

19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the Child and His mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the Child are dead.”

21 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and His mother. 22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. 23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

--Matthew 2:13-23 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You so much for sending Your angel to warn Joseph of King Herod’s evil plan.  And thank You for giving Jesus and His earthly family safe passage to Egypt to escape the carnage that ensued.  Father, this was just the first of many persecutions that Your Son and His church would endure at the hands of the rulers of the people and those that serve Satan.  Jesus was able to withstand all persecution and temptations, but we are not always as strong.  Please give us the strength and the courage to stand against evil, to resist temptation, and to endure any persecution because of our faith in and love of Your Son Jesus.  Please forgive us, Father, when we falter and let doubts creep in, when the pain we experience becomes too great.  Help us be more like Your Son in our reaction to whatever comes our way.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Back in 1989, the magazine Today in the Word recalled that, “During China's Boxer Rebellion of 1900, insurgents captured a mission station, blocked all the gates but one, and in front of that one gate placed a cross flat on the ground.  Then the word was passed to those inside that any who trampled the cross underfoot would be permitted their freedom and life, but that any refusing would be shot.  Terribly frightened, the first seven students trampled the cross under their feet and were allowed to go free.  But the eighth student, a young girl, refused to commit the sacrilegious act.  Kneeling beside the cross in prayer for strength, she arose and moved carefully around the cross, and went out to face the firing squad.  Strengthened by her example, every one of the remaining ninety-two students followed her to the firing squad.”

How strong is our faith?  This is a tough question that we need to ask ourselves, maybe ask each and every day.  We may not really know the answer until we’re faced with a similar lose-lose situation.  But would we have the courage, the strength, the willingness to walk to our death just for doing what is right, just because of our faith and belief in Jesus?  Would we respond like that girl and the 92 that followed her, or like one of the first seven, more concerned with this life than the next?  It’s a tough question.

Now, I’m sure very few, if any, of us will ever have to choose between Jesus and death.  Most of us have never faced any greater persecution than funny looks or disparaging comments if we show any sign of our faith.  A lot of Christians are hesitant to even pray over their meal in public, worried about what other people may think or say, concerned about upsetting someone, afraid of any consequences that may arise from it.  I think of that as self-inflicted persecution, or self-intimidation.  I am very encouraged to see more and more people giving thanks for their meal each time we eat out.  It’s kind of like the girl, doing what is right in the sight of God and not being worried about the consequences.

In my invocation, I quoted a verse from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, when He said that we are the light of the world, like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.  Just a few moments earlier in that sermon, in what we call the Beatitudes, Matthew recorded Jesus blessing us in verses 9 through 12 of the 5th chapter of the Apostle’s Gospel account…

9 “God blesses those who work for peace,

for they will be called the children of God.

10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,

for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are My followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.”

--Matthew 5:9-12 (NLT)

OK, show of hands…  How many of us would feel happy and glad to be persecuted, to be mocked and have all kinds of nasty, untruthful things said about us?  When Jesus tells us to be happy and glad, He’s trying to remind us that the faithful have been mistreated all along.  He’s saying that when we put our faith and belief ahead of our earthly, bodily concerns, when we do what is right even under threat of persecution, we will be greatly rewarded in heaven.

Now you may not have noticed, but Jesus did not use the word “if” in that passage.  It’s not that we should be happy if we are persecuted because we follow Him, it’s that we should be happy when we are persecuted because of our faith.  It’s going to happen, in one form or another, to one degree or another.  Jesus knew this.  That’s why He also said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”  Persecution is certainly a trial, and it can clearly bring sorrow to the persecuted.  And ultimately, the persecutor will also be sorry for their actions and words.  But we believers need to remember that Jesus has already conquered the world.  He did it on the cross.  He did it for you and for me.

Family, the Christian church has been persecuted since its founding, with a young Pharisee named Saul vigorously rounding up believers for trial.  The church is still being persecuted, and the persecution is growing, spreading, reaching even here into these United States, where many came for religious freedom.  Jesus promised that in this life we would suffer many trials and tribulations, and that includes persecution.  Yet we must not give up.  We must not hold back the Gospel to those who would demand we be quiet.  We must not surrender to those who would destroy the church.

Trust in the Lord, and lean on Him for strength.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who has overcome the world.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for sending Your Son to redeem us of our sin and to offer us salvation through our faith and belief in Him as the Christ and our Lord.  He came and overcame the world so that we might have eternal life.  But we know that for now, Satan has the run of the earth.  He is doing all he can to destroy our Lord’s church, through deceit, through temptations, through persecution.  His agents are everywhere, making this life difficult for believers, hoping to break our faith.  Father, please forgive us those times we let our faith slip and weaken.  Please strengthen us and keep reminding us of what You have in store for us once this life is finished and the next begins.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, shortly after Your birth, Herod ordered the slaughter of innocent boys in an attempt to kill You and end the supposed threat of a new King of the Jews.  This was the first time You and Your earthly family faced persecution.  And it didn’t end there.  Throughout Your mortal life, the powers that be tried to have You silenced, tried to destroy You and then Your church.  Thank You, Jesus for showing us how to face persecution and trials.  Thank You for reminding us of what awaits us in heaven if we just keep hold of our faith, no matter what befalls us.  Please strengthen us and encourage us to keep pressing forward with our mission of teaching others about You.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost 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.