[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered during the joint Lenten service held at Paul's Chapel Church on Sunday evening, the 7th of April, 2019. Participating in the joint services are Emanuel Reformed, Paul's Chapel, and Pilgrim Reformed Churches.]
Show of hands… Who among us has not lost something or someone near and dear in our life? With each passing year it seems I lose more and more, loved ones and things. Some folks have lost everything they owned, due to a fire or a flood or a disaster of their own making. I’m willing to bet that everyone of us has suffered the loss of a loved one’s passing. Suffering loss is something we’re all far too familiar with, but few of us have seen times as trying as did the Apostle Paul.
Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in his letter to his beloved Philippians, to the church in Philippi that aided him while he was in prison. I’ll start in chapter 3 from the second part of verse 4 and go through verse 14, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…
Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in his letter to his beloved Philippians, to the church in Philippi that aided him while he was in prison. I’ll start in chapter 3 from the second part of verse 4 and go through verse 14, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…
4b Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin — a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
--Philippians 3:4b-14 (NLT)
Let us pray… Father God, You never promised us that this life would be easy. In fact, Your word, saved in our Holy Bible, tells us that we must endure all manner of trials and tribulations. We will be tested, we will be hurt, we will suffer. But we can take strength from Your Son Jesus. He will help us through these times. For this life is short when compared to eternity with You. Any suffering we face now will be forgotten when we experience the wonders of heaven. All things of this life will rot and decay, but what You hold in store for us will be our treasure forever. Help us, please Father, to stay focused on this simple fact: only Jesus matters.
Speak to us now, Father, directly to our hearts, that we might better understand the message Your Son Jesus has for us, that we might better discern Your will for our lives. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
In The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, we read of a miserable looking woman who recognized preacher and evangelist F.B. Meyer on the train and proceeded to share her burden with him. For years she had cared for a crippled daughter who brought great joy to her life. She made tea for her each morning, then left for work, knowing that in the evening the daughter would be there when she arrived home.
But the daughter had died, and the grieving mother was alone and miserable. Home was not "home" anymore. Meyer gave her wise counsel. "When you get home and put the key in the door," he said, "say aloud, 'Jesus, I know You are here!' and be ready to greet Him directly when you open the door. And as you light the fire tell Him what has happened during the day; if anybody has been kind, tell Him; if anybody has been unkind, tell Him, just as you would have told your daughter. At night stretch out your hand in the darkness and say, 'Jesus, I know You are here!'"
Some months later, Meyer was back in that neighborhood and met the woman again, but he did not recognize her. Her face radiated joy instead of announcing misery. "I did as you told me," she said, "and it has made all the difference in my life, and now I feel I know Him."
The transformation that Jesus can make in a life is absolutely astonishing, and almost unbelievable if not witnessed. This woman was miserable after she lost her daughter. Alone and miserable. I know that feeling – I can definitely relate. Maybe some of you can, too.
Many of us have suffered unbearable loss, leaving us only misery and sorrow. But once we finally get to know Jesus as a personal friend, accept Him into our lives, He can replace all that misery with happiness, all that sorrow with joy! Jesus can make all the difference in our lives, if we just let Him!
In our scripture reading, Paul talks about one of the differences Jesus made in his life. This difference is a matter of perspective, in how Paul’s perception of value was changed once he came to know Jesus.
Paul said he had everything any good Jew could want. He was a Pharisee, a member of the religious hierarchy that help sway over the people. He upheld the Law of Moses, with so much zeal that he eagerly persecuted the new church of Jesus. He obeyed the law without fault.
But all of that changed when Christ came to him and imparted insight and knowledge into the truth, when he came to know Jesus as his only means of salvation, as his sure source of strength. All of that before was rubbish, worthless, of no consequence whatsoever. The only thing that matters is knowing Christ Jesus.
Not only did Paul count all he left behind as loss, as garbage, but he gave up everything else from that point on in his service to Jesus. Nothing else mattered, nothing but the heavenly prize that awaited him at the end of this earthly race.
We all know how much loss Paul suffered if we’ve read through the Apostle Luke’s Book of the Acts of the Apostles. The list is long and varied. Shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonments – his personal sufferings would have been great. And let’s not forget the “thorn in his side” he asked relief of. All this he suffered willingly for Jesus. He also gave up any chance of wealth, instead barely getting by through the generosity of others, such as the church in Philippi, or from what he could earn making tents. Paul was willing to sacrifice “things”, even himself, because he knew a far greater reward awaited him.
Not everyone understands this. Do you remember the “rich young ruler’s” conversation with Jesus? Listen to how the Apostle Mark recounts this for us, in chapter 10 of his Gospel account, verses 17 through 22…
The young man had good intentions, seeking the key to eternal life. He just wasn’t willing to give up his possessions to gain that which he sought. He was not willing to suffer loss for his own sake, let alone for Jesus. He was just too rich, and would not lay aside his wealth in order to take up the cross.
But there’s one phrase in there I hope you caught. “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him…” Jesus loved this young man standing before Him. As God, Jesus knew how the young man would respond, how he would turn away, but He loved him anyway. He loved him so much that He wanted him to have eternal life, He wanted him to give up everything, take up his own cross and follow the path of service to Christ.
Now this is going to be somewhat a bold and controversial statement, running counter to what some might tell you, but I think that Jesus wants us to suffer some measure of loss! Maybe not as much as Paul, and certainly not as much as He Himself suffered for us, but still, we need to be able and willing to take up our cross for Him.
For you see, family, everything in this life on earth is temporary, transient, of absolutely no value in the life to come. And that includes the mortal bodies of our loved ones. Everything in this life is passing away. Jesus wants us to be willing to give up anything this life offers so that we can be free to follow Him.
If there is anything we are not willing to part with, then our attention will be split, our affections will be divided, and we’ll be engaging in idolatry. Whatever we give ourselves and our time to becomes our god, our idol of worship. Jesus says give it all up and follow Me.
And it may seem harsh, but that includes our loved ones who have gone home. In his Gospel account, chapter 8 verses 18 through 22, the Apostle Matthew gives us clear examples, provided by Jesus, of the cost of discipleship, the true cost of following Jesus…
In the first part, Jesus is painting a bit of a word picture to describe what it will be like to follow Him: homeless, destitute, with nothing to call His own, dependent on the goodness and generosity of others. Of course, He was speaking of His own mortal life there, but by implication He was saying that a disciple should expect nothing more.
And then in the second part, it may sound like Jesus is being cruel, not allowing the man to bury his deceased father. But I think what Jesus is trying to say is that we need to be able to let our departed loved ones go. If they were believers especially, because they are now in a far better place than we. We just need to let go of our grief, give it up, it serves no purpose. As long as we hold onto to our grief, it keeps us from giving our full attention to Jesus and following Him.
I could tell you all kinds of nice and sweet things about how wonderful your life will be if you just have enough faith. I could tell you that your belief in Jesus will allow Him to protect you from any harm, that God will send His angels just to watch over you and guard you. I could tell you all sorts of things that have a Biblical basis. Or I can tell you what Jesus said, as recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel account, chapter 16 verse 33…
Jesus doesn’t say we might have tribulation. He says we will have tribulation, trials, suffering, loss. And family, I would be so bold as to say we should suffer loss, or be willing to. For we can only suffer loss when we lose something, when we give something up. And in this case, I mean giving it up for Jesus.
We need to put down the stuff that means something to us, stuff that the world says is valuable, so that we can pick up our cross and follow Jesus, even if it means having nothing we can call our own. Let’s lay it all down at the foot of our Lord’s cross, pick up our own cross, and follow Him.
We don’t know when our time on this earth will be finished and done. But tonight, in this place, we still have time to make a sacrifice, to give up the treasures of this world, to suffer loss. We still have time to give of ourselves to others in service to our Lord. We can honor the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf by making a sacrifice of our own.
If you would like to recommit yourself to Jesus, now is the best time to do so – now, because tomorrow might not come. If you want to make a sacrifice for Jesus, now, during Lent, is a very appropriate time. If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, now, while we still draw breath, is the time to let Him into your heart.
I ask my brother Pastors gathered here tonight to join me down front as we sing our closing hymn. If you want to accept Jesus as your Master and Savior, if you want to rededicate your life to Him, if you want to offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, if you just want us to pray with you, then please come down and join us at the foot of our Lord’s cross. No sacrifice is too great. In the glorious name of the one true Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, when You sent Your Son to earth to offer us salvation, You could have made it easy on Him. Instead, as He lived a mortal life, He had to suffer, just as we suffer. He could have made it easy on His followers. Instead, they had to suffer just as He did. As long as we walk this earth, we will suffer loss. But Jesus promised that all this suffering will one day be forgotten. One glorious day, all trials and tribulations, all pain and suffering will come to an end and we will live forever in paradise if we would only accept Jesus as Lord. Thank You, Father, for Your loving mercy. Forgive us when we grow weary, when life beats on us so much that our faith wavers and our spirits sink. Please help us in our daily walk to see this through until Jesus returns. Please hear us now, Lord God, as we come to you in the silence, repenting of our sin, seeking Your forgiveness, praying straight from our hearts…
Lord Jesus, throughout Your walk on earth, You set the example for how we should live our lives. Even by Your mortal suffering, You showed that we too will suffer. But You also promised that our suffering will end and we can spend eternity with You in paradise if we only accept You as our Master now, while we still draw breath. Thank You, Lord, for suffering on our behalf. Thank You for taking our punishment. Thank You for taking all our sins and carrying them to the grave. Forgive us, Jesus, when only want salvation without making You our true Lord, without obeying You and living the way You showed us. Forgive us when ignore the needs of others, when we judge based on looks, when we fail to treat others with the same love You showed. Help us, please Lord, to be better servants. Help us to love sacrificially, unconditionally, and not just during Lent but every day of the year.
This we pray in Your righteous name, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Speak to us now, Father, directly to our hearts, that we might better understand the message Your Son Jesus has for us, that we might better discern Your will for our lives. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
In The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, we read of a miserable looking woman who recognized preacher and evangelist F.B. Meyer on the train and proceeded to share her burden with him. For years she had cared for a crippled daughter who brought great joy to her life. She made tea for her each morning, then left for work, knowing that in the evening the daughter would be there when she arrived home.
But the daughter had died, and the grieving mother was alone and miserable. Home was not "home" anymore. Meyer gave her wise counsel. "When you get home and put the key in the door," he said, "say aloud, 'Jesus, I know You are here!' and be ready to greet Him directly when you open the door. And as you light the fire tell Him what has happened during the day; if anybody has been kind, tell Him; if anybody has been unkind, tell Him, just as you would have told your daughter. At night stretch out your hand in the darkness and say, 'Jesus, I know You are here!'"
Some months later, Meyer was back in that neighborhood and met the woman again, but he did not recognize her. Her face radiated joy instead of announcing misery. "I did as you told me," she said, "and it has made all the difference in my life, and now I feel I know Him."
The transformation that Jesus can make in a life is absolutely astonishing, and almost unbelievable if not witnessed. This woman was miserable after she lost her daughter. Alone and miserable. I know that feeling – I can definitely relate. Maybe some of you can, too.
Many of us have suffered unbearable loss, leaving us only misery and sorrow. But once we finally get to know Jesus as a personal friend, accept Him into our lives, He can replace all that misery with happiness, all that sorrow with joy! Jesus can make all the difference in our lives, if we just let Him!
In our scripture reading, Paul talks about one of the differences Jesus made in his life. This difference is a matter of perspective, in how Paul’s perception of value was changed once he came to know Jesus.
Paul said he had everything any good Jew could want. He was a Pharisee, a member of the religious hierarchy that help sway over the people. He upheld the Law of Moses, with so much zeal that he eagerly persecuted the new church of Jesus. He obeyed the law without fault.
But all of that changed when Christ came to him and imparted insight and knowledge into the truth, when he came to know Jesus as his only means of salvation, as his sure source of strength. All of that before was rubbish, worthless, of no consequence whatsoever. The only thing that matters is knowing Christ Jesus.
Not only did Paul count all he left behind as loss, as garbage, but he gave up everything else from that point on in his service to Jesus. Nothing else mattered, nothing but the heavenly prize that awaited him at the end of this earthly race.
We all know how much loss Paul suffered if we’ve read through the Apostle Luke’s Book of the Acts of the Apostles. The list is long and varied. Shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonments – his personal sufferings would have been great. And let’s not forget the “thorn in his side” he asked relief of. All this he suffered willingly for Jesus. He also gave up any chance of wealth, instead barely getting by through the generosity of others, such as the church in Philippi, or from what he could earn making tents. Paul was willing to sacrifice “things”, even himself, because he knew a far greater reward awaited him.
Not everyone understands this. Do you remember the “rich young ruler’s” conversation with Jesus? Listen to how the Apostle Mark recounts this for us, in chapter 10 of his Gospel account, verses 17 through 22…
17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
--Mark 10:17-22 (NKJV)
But there’s one phrase in there I hope you caught. “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him…” Jesus loved this young man standing before Him. As God, Jesus knew how the young man would respond, how he would turn away, but He loved him anyway. He loved him so much that He wanted him to have eternal life, He wanted him to give up everything, take up his own cross and follow the path of service to Christ.
Now this is going to be somewhat a bold and controversial statement, running counter to what some might tell you, but I think that Jesus wants us to suffer some measure of loss! Maybe not as much as Paul, and certainly not as much as He Himself suffered for us, but still, we need to be able and willing to take up our cross for Him.
For you see, family, everything in this life on earth is temporary, transient, of absolutely no value in the life to come. And that includes the mortal bodies of our loved ones. Everything in this life is passing away. Jesus wants us to be willing to give up anything this life offers so that we can be free to follow Him.
If there is anything we are not willing to part with, then our attention will be split, our affections will be divided, and we’ll be engaging in idolatry. Whatever we give ourselves and our time to becomes our god, our idol of worship. Jesus says give it all up and follow Me.
And it may seem harsh, but that includes our loved ones who have gone home. In his Gospel account, chapter 8 verses 18 through 22, the Apostle Matthew gives us clear examples, provided by Jesus, of the cost of discipleship, the true cost of following Jesus…
18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
--Matthew 8:18-22 (NKJV)
And then in the second part, it may sound like Jesus is being cruel, not allowing the man to bury his deceased father. But I think what Jesus is trying to say is that we need to be able to let our departed loved ones go. If they were believers especially, because they are now in a far better place than we. We just need to let go of our grief, give it up, it serves no purpose. As long as we hold onto to our grief, it keeps us from giving our full attention to Jesus and following Him.
I could tell you all kinds of nice and sweet things about how wonderful your life will be if you just have enough faith. I could tell you that your belief in Jesus will allow Him to protect you from any harm, that God will send His angels just to watch over you and guard you. I could tell you all sorts of things that have a Biblical basis. Or I can tell you what Jesus said, as recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel account, chapter 16 verse 33…
33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
--John 16:33 (NKJV)
We need to put down the stuff that means something to us, stuff that the world says is valuable, so that we can pick up our cross and follow Jesus, even if it means having nothing we can call our own. Let’s lay it all down at the foot of our Lord’s cross, pick up our own cross, and follow Him.
We don’t know when our time on this earth will be finished and done. But tonight, in this place, we still have time to make a sacrifice, to give up the treasures of this world, to suffer loss. We still have time to give of ourselves to others in service to our Lord. We can honor the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf by making a sacrifice of our own.
If you would like to recommit yourself to Jesus, now is the best time to do so – now, because tomorrow might not come. If you want to make a sacrifice for Jesus, now, during Lent, is a very appropriate time. If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, now, while we still draw breath, is the time to let Him into your heart.
I ask my brother Pastors gathered here tonight to join me down front as we sing our closing hymn. If you want to accept Jesus as your Master and Savior, if you want to rededicate your life to Him, if you want to offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, if you just want us to pray with you, then please come down and join us at the foot of our Lord’s cross. No sacrifice is too great. In the glorious name of the one true Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, when You sent Your Son to earth to offer us salvation, You could have made it easy on Him. Instead, as He lived a mortal life, He had to suffer, just as we suffer. He could have made it easy on His followers. Instead, they had to suffer just as He did. As long as we walk this earth, we will suffer loss. But Jesus promised that all this suffering will one day be forgotten. One glorious day, all trials and tribulations, all pain and suffering will come to an end and we will live forever in paradise if we would only accept Jesus as Lord. Thank You, Father, for Your loving mercy. Forgive us when we grow weary, when life beats on us so much that our faith wavers and our spirits sink. Please help us in our daily walk to see this through until Jesus returns. Please hear us now, Lord God, as we come to you in the silence, repenting of our sin, seeking Your forgiveness, praying straight from our hearts…
Lord Jesus, throughout Your walk on earth, You set the example for how we should live our lives. Even by Your mortal suffering, You showed that we too will suffer. But You also promised that our suffering will end and we can spend eternity with You in paradise if we only accept You as our Master now, while we still draw breath. Thank You, Lord, for suffering on our behalf. Thank You for taking our punishment. Thank You for taking all our sins and carrying them to the grave. Forgive us, Jesus, when only want salvation without making You our true Lord, without obeying You and living the way You showed us. Forgive us when ignore the needs of others, when we judge based on looks, when we fail to treat others with the same love You showed. Help us, please Lord, to be better servants. Help us to love sacrificially, unconditionally, and not just during Lent but every day of the year.
This we pray in Your righteous name, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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