[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 12th of October, 2014.]
I know Christmas is a little ways off yet, even though it’s closer than many of us would like to think, but this morning I want to talk about the coming of our Lord Jesus and specifically how people might react to His presence.
Today I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible. Listen to what God spoke through His prophet Malachi, from chapter 3, verse 1 through the first part of verse 6…
Today I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible. Listen to what God spoke through His prophet Malachi, from chapter 3, verse 1 through the first part of verse 6…
1 “Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
2 “But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness.
4 “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be pleasant to the Lord,
As in the days of old,
As in former years.
5 And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
Against perjurers,
Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change."
--Malachi 3:1-6a (NKJV)
Let us pray... Heavenly Father, we come before You this morning in the name of Jesus our Lord to worship You. Speak to us, Father, through Your Holy Spirit. Touch our hearts as no one or nothing else can. Remove any and all distractions from our sight that we may focus only on You. In the dearest name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Five-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother prepared supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn’t want to go in alone. “It’s dark in there and I’m scared.” She asked again, but he persisted. Finally she said, “It’s OK – Jesus will be in there with you.” Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave, when all at once an idea came to him and he said, “Jesus, if You’re in there, would You hand me that can of tomato soup?”
Back in the 1960’s, researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported that the greatest fears of grade school children were animals, high places, strangers, loud noises, and, as our little story suggests, being in a dark room. Thirty years later, in the 1990’s, those greatest fears had changed to the divorce of their parents, nuclear war, pollution, cancer, and being mugged. I can only wonder what they might report today, but I bet the terrorist threat would be right up there, and maybe Ebola.
We have so many fears, we humans, that we’ve put fancy names on them. Who can tell me what “peladophobia” is? It’s a fear of baldness or bald people. How about “aerophobia”? A fear of airplanes maybe? Nope – a fear of drafts. What about “porphyrophobia”? That’s a fear of the color purple. I kid you not. The list goes on and on, but here’s my favorite. “Phobophobia” – can you guess what that one is? It’s the fear of being afraid.
Think about that for a second: to be frightened that you might be frightened. One aspect of our scripture reading today speaks to being frightened.
God, through Malachi, asks who can endure the day of the coming of the Lord whom we have sought. That’s a loaded question, isn’t it? The word “endure” itself carries great significance. It can mean to hold out against, to bear without resistance, to tolerate, to continue to exist, to last. The Lord that we have sought after, the promised Messiah that the Jewish people waited so long for, is finally coming. Who will be able to stand it, to tolerate it, to last when that day arrives?
The song “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me asks what will I do when I finally see Jesus. “Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus, or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine.”
What will we do? Will we bow and worship Him? Or will we run, scared, terrified by His awesome presence?
I know what some of His own disciples did – His closest friends. We’ve talked about one instance a couple times now, in slightly different contexts. The Apostle John tells us in chapter 6 of his Gospel, verses 16 through 20, of one time when Jesus came to His followers in a somewhat unorthodox way…
Five-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother prepared supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn’t want to go in alone. “It’s dark in there and I’m scared.” She asked again, but he persisted. Finally she said, “It’s OK – Jesus will be in there with you.” Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave, when all at once an idea came to him and he said, “Jesus, if You’re in there, would You hand me that can of tomato soup?”
Back in the 1960’s, researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported that the greatest fears of grade school children were animals, high places, strangers, loud noises, and, as our little story suggests, being in a dark room. Thirty years later, in the 1990’s, those greatest fears had changed to the divorce of their parents, nuclear war, pollution, cancer, and being mugged. I can only wonder what they might report today, but I bet the terrorist threat would be right up there, and maybe Ebola.
We have so many fears, we humans, that we’ve put fancy names on them. Who can tell me what “peladophobia” is? It’s a fear of baldness or bald people. How about “aerophobia”? A fear of airplanes maybe? Nope – a fear of drafts. What about “porphyrophobia”? That’s a fear of the color purple. I kid you not. The list goes on and on, but here’s my favorite. “Phobophobia” – can you guess what that one is? It’s the fear of being afraid.
Think about that for a second: to be frightened that you might be frightened. One aspect of our scripture reading today speaks to being frightened.
God, through Malachi, asks who can endure the day of the coming of the Lord whom we have sought. That’s a loaded question, isn’t it? The word “endure” itself carries great significance. It can mean to hold out against, to bear without resistance, to tolerate, to continue to exist, to last. The Lord that we have sought after, the promised Messiah that the Jewish people waited so long for, is finally coming. Who will be able to stand it, to tolerate it, to last when that day arrives?
The song “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me asks what will I do when I finally see Jesus. “Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus, or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine.”
What will we do? Will we bow and worship Him? Or will we run, scared, terrified by His awesome presence?
I know what some of His own disciples did – His closest friends. We’ve talked about one instance a couple times now, in slightly different contexts. The Apostle John tells us in chapter 6 of his Gospel, verses 16 through 20, of one time when Jesus came to His followers in a somewhat unorthodox way…
16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. 19 So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. 20 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”--John 6:16-20 (NKJV)
It was dark, in the early morning hours, when they spotted Jesus walking across the water toward them. And they were afraid. They thought they were seeing spirits on the water, a ghost coming toward them. Jesus had to calm them down. “Don’t be afraid. It’s just Me.”
Wouldn’t we have been a little shaken? If that same set of circumstances happened to us, wouldn’t we be scared, if for no other reason than we’d be afraid we’d gone completely insane!
Our dear physician Luke tells us of another time when Jesus came to the disciples, this time after His resurrection but before His ascension. After Jesus had been crucified and buried, His disciples hid in Jerusalem for a few days but then started dispersing, leaving town, afraid the same thing might happen to them. Two of the disciples were on the road to the village of Emmaus when Jesus, unrecognized by them, appeared and walked along beside them. After they figured out who He was, they ran back to Jerusalem to tell the others. As they were relating their experience, Jesus appeared among them all. This is how Luke recorded their reaction, in chapter 24 of his Gospel, verses 36 through 38…
Wouldn’t we have been a little shaken? If that same set of circumstances happened to us, wouldn’t we be scared, if for no other reason than we’d be afraid we’d gone completely insane!
Our dear physician Luke tells us of another time when Jesus came to the disciples, this time after His resurrection but before His ascension. After Jesus had been crucified and buried, His disciples hid in Jerusalem for a few days but then started dispersing, leaving town, afraid the same thing might happen to them. Two of the disciples were on the road to the village of Emmaus when Jesus, unrecognized by them, appeared and walked along beside them. After they figured out who He was, they ran back to Jerusalem to tell the others. As they were relating their experience, Jesus appeared among them all. This is how Luke recorded their reaction, in chapter 24 of his Gospel, verses 36 through 38…
36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?”--Luke 24:36-38 (NKJV)
They were frightened, terrified. And if that wasn’t enough, Jesus hit at their very souls when He asked, “Why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
Will that be us, when we come into our Lord’s presence? Will we be frightened, or worse yet, terrified of Him? Will doubt cloud our eyes?
There’s one more instance I’d like to look at, of what some folks did when they came into the presence of Jesus, the “Son of the Most High God”. Again this was saved for us by Luke, and I’m going back a little earlier in time. I’m sure you’ll remember the story.
Jesus and the disciples had sailed into the country of the Gerasenes, across from Galilee. No sooner had they set foot upon land when a wild man came rushing up. He was naked and dirty, he slept in the cemetery among the tombs, and he was so strong in his rage that not even chains could hold him. He was possessed by not one, but a thousand or more demons, for his name was Legion. He immediately recognized Jesus and called Him as I mentioned a few seconds ago: Son of the Most High God. Man didn’t, nor could even His disciples, but the demons within this wild creature immediately knew Jesus for who He truly was: the Son of God. So Jesus rid the man of his demons and they all entered a herd of swine that immediately rushed head-long into the sea. The man calmed down, got dressed and all cleaned up, and was completely changed.
But what happened next is very important, when the people in the surrounding towns and farms and villages came out to see just what was going on. Luke recorded the exchange for us there in chapter 8 of his Gospel, with verses 35 through 37 being the most telling…
Will that be us, when we come into our Lord’s presence? Will we be frightened, or worse yet, terrified of Him? Will doubt cloud our eyes?
There’s one more instance I’d like to look at, of what some folks did when they came into the presence of Jesus, the “Son of the Most High God”. Again this was saved for us by Luke, and I’m going back a little earlier in time. I’m sure you’ll remember the story.
Jesus and the disciples had sailed into the country of the Gerasenes, across from Galilee. No sooner had they set foot upon land when a wild man came rushing up. He was naked and dirty, he slept in the cemetery among the tombs, and he was so strong in his rage that not even chains could hold him. He was possessed by not one, but a thousand or more demons, for his name was Legion. He immediately recognized Jesus and called Him as I mentioned a few seconds ago: Son of the Most High God. Man didn’t, nor could even His disciples, but the demons within this wild creature immediately knew Jesus for who He truly was: the Son of God. So Jesus rid the man of his demons and they all entered a herd of swine that immediately rushed head-long into the sea. The man calmed down, got dressed and all cleaned up, and was completely changed.
But what happened next is very important, when the people in the surrounding towns and farms and villages came out to see just what was going on. Luke recorded the exchange for us there in chapter 8 of his Gospel, with verses 35 through 37 being the most telling…
35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. 37 Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.--Luke 8:35-37 (NKJV)
In the first two instances we can almost understand why anyone, even the disciples, would have been afraid. Seeing a person walking across the surface of the sea at 3 in the morning?!? That would give anyone the willies. Or someone just popping into the middle of the room from nowhere, from out of thin air, that could certainly cause a fright.
But what about these people from the towns and villages? Why would they be afraid? Jesus had done good here. He had straightened out a man that had been causing these people some difficulties in the past, or else why would they have tried to chain him down. Now he was calm and docile and clean. Why would that scare them?
I believe they recognized what Malachi alluded to. Let’s look at our message text again for a moment. In the first verse God says He is sending a messenger to prepare the way for the Lord that we seek. That messenger would have been none other than John the Baptist. And we know the Lord we seek is Jesus, who the demons in Legion recognized instantly as the Son of God.
If we look at the story, the people who came out to investigate what had happened between Jesus and Legion didn’t have to endure much. The swine did, but there wasn’t much for the people to have to stand. Perhaps they were a little uncomfortable thinking about Jesus in the role of a refiner and purifier of silver that Malachi describes in verse 3. Maybe the thoughts of spending time in a fire or being in a hot spot didn’t appeal to them. What if they had to endure that fire for a very long time, like for all eternity? Now we’re getting closer to the cause of their fear, I think. And verse 5 seals it: The people saw in Jesus the judgment that is to come, and they were afraid because they were sinners.
Among them, I’m sure, would have been sorcerers – those who would greedily deceive others through trickery and any means necessary to achieve their own end. They would have included adulterers and liars and those who think nothing of taking resources from those who are weaker and unable to defend themselves. And they indeed did just as God, through Malachi, said they would: They turned away Jesus, an alien – a visitor - in their land. They turned away the Son of God because they had no respect for God.
They were gripped with great fear because of the judgment that Jesus represented. They were afraid, because they were not willing to repent and turn from their evil ways. They were frightened because they would not accept Jesus. And Jesus and His disciples got back in their boat and left them there.
God says, “I do not change”. But we do. We have been those people afraid of judgment. But we have changed, have accepted Jesus and invited Him into our hearts and our lives. We still fear judgment but not eternal damnation because we were saved the moment we surrendered ourselves to our Lord and Master Jesus.
But too many people out there haven’t changed. They’re still afraid of Jesus, afraid of ultimate judgment. If we try to approach them and talk to them, they might react just like the people in Luke’s story. They might ask us to leave. Even though salvation is so close, they might be too afraid to accept it. They might not be able to endure the presence of Jesus.
Can we? We came into our Lord’s presence this morning when we gathered in His holy name. Can we endure it? Are we ready to face Him again, this time in judgment? Or are we afraid of what our punishment might be?
When we accepted Jesus, He washed us clean. When we repent of our sins He forgives us. We will be judged for how we lived our lives on this earth. But we will not be damned to the lake of fire for all eternity if we truly believe in Him, follow Him, and repent to Him. God promised us that, and He does not change. So we should not fear having to endure His coming. We need only endure this life, until He comes again. May the words, “He is coming!” bring joy to your heart, not fear.
Accept the Lord and be saved, for He is coming.
Amen.
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, just thinking about standing in Your presence brings a little fear to our hearts. Doubts might creep up – are we really safe? Are we really saved? Father, we know that those doubts come from our Adversary, from Satan, who would like nothing more than for us to run frightened from Your presence, who wants us to ask Jesus to depart. Father, You have promised us, through Your Son, that we will be saved if we only believe in Him, repent of our sins and follow Him. And Father, You assure us that You do not change. Your word does not change. Your promise does not change. Jesus is Your one true Son and in Him we believe.
Hear us now, gracious Father, as we pause for just a moment to open our hearts to You, to repent of our sins to You, to cry out to You those things for which we have no words…
Unchanging God, Lord of all creation, help us endure this life until Jesus comes once again to take His church home. We accept Him as our Master and are not afraid to be in His holy presence. If there is anyone present, dear Lord, who does not know Jesus as their personal Savior, please give them the courage and the heart to come speak to me in private so that together we can ask Jesus to take control of their life. Come, Jesus, Come, for it is in Your holy name we pray. Amen.
But what about these people from the towns and villages? Why would they be afraid? Jesus had done good here. He had straightened out a man that had been causing these people some difficulties in the past, or else why would they have tried to chain him down. Now he was calm and docile and clean. Why would that scare them?
I believe they recognized what Malachi alluded to. Let’s look at our message text again for a moment. In the first verse God says He is sending a messenger to prepare the way for the Lord that we seek. That messenger would have been none other than John the Baptist. And we know the Lord we seek is Jesus, who the demons in Legion recognized instantly as the Son of God.
If we look at the story, the people who came out to investigate what had happened between Jesus and Legion didn’t have to endure much. The swine did, but there wasn’t much for the people to have to stand. Perhaps they were a little uncomfortable thinking about Jesus in the role of a refiner and purifier of silver that Malachi describes in verse 3. Maybe the thoughts of spending time in a fire or being in a hot spot didn’t appeal to them. What if they had to endure that fire for a very long time, like for all eternity? Now we’re getting closer to the cause of their fear, I think. And verse 5 seals it: The people saw in Jesus the judgment that is to come, and they were afraid because they were sinners.
Among them, I’m sure, would have been sorcerers – those who would greedily deceive others through trickery and any means necessary to achieve their own end. They would have included adulterers and liars and those who think nothing of taking resources from those who are weaker and unable to defend themselves. And they indeed did just as God, through Malachi, said they would: They turned away Jesus, an alien – a visitor - in their land. They turned away the Son of God because they had no respect for God.
They were gripped with great fear because of the judgment that Jesus represented. They were afraid, because they were not willing to repent and turn from their evil ways. They were frightened because they would not accept Jesus. And Jesus and His disciples got back in their boat and left them there.
God says, “I do not change”. But we do. We have been those people afraid of judgment. But we have changed, have accepted Jesus and invited Him into our hearts and our lives. We still fear judgment but not eternal damnation because we were saved the moment we surrendered ourselves to our Lord and Master Jesus.
But too many people out there haven’t changed. They’re still afraid of Jesus, afraid of ultimate judgment. If we try to approach them and talk to them, they might react just like the people in Luke’s story. They might ask us to leave. Even though salvation is so close, they might be too afraid to accept it. They might not be able to endure the presence of Jesus.
Can we? We came into our Lord’s presence this morning when we gathered in His holy name. Can we endure it? Are we ready to face Him again, this time in judgment? Or are we afraid of what our punishment might be?
When we accepted Jesus, He washed us clean. When we repent of our sins He forgives us. We will be judged for how we lived our lives on this earth. But we will not be damned to the lake of fire for all eternity if we truly believe in Him, follow Him, and repent to Him. God promised us that, and He does not change. So we should not fear having to endure His coming. We need only endure this life, until He comes again. May the words, “He is coming!” bring joy to your heart, not fear.
Accept the Lord and be saved, for He is coming.
Amen.
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, just thinking about standing in Your presence brings a little fear to our hearts. Doubts might creep up – are we really safe? Are we really saved? Father, we know that those doubts come from our Adversary, from Satan, who would like nothing more than for us to run frightened from Your presence, who wants us to ask Jesus to depart. Father, You have promised us, through Your Son, that we will be saved if we only believe in Him, repent of our sins and follow Him. And Father, You assure us that You do not change. Your word does not change. Your promise does not change. Jesus is Your one true Son and in Him we believe.
Hear us now, gracious Father, as we pause for just a moment to open our hearts to You, to repent of our sins to You, to cry out to You those things for which we have no words…
Unchanging God, Lord of all creation, help us endure this life until Jesus comes once again to take His church home. We accept Him as our Master and are not afraid to be in His holy presence. If there is anyone present, dear Lord, who does not know Jesus as their personal Savior, please give them the courage and the heart to come speak to me in private so that together we can ask Jesus to take control of their life. Come, Jesus, Come, for it is in Your holy name we pray. Amen.
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