Blind Eyes, Hard Hearts

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 7th of February, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

For some time now we’ve been looking at what all is going on in the world and thinking that maybe we’re experiencing some of the things our Bible talks about as happening toward the time when Jesus will return to call His church home.  And some of us wonder why more people aren’t taking note of this and trying to get right with God.  Why aren’t they asking the questions we ask?  Is God angry with us?  Are we seeing His wrath now?  Is this a foretaste of the judgment the world can expect?

Now granted, not everyone spends much time in their Bibles, not even folks we know to be good Christians.  But isn’t it obvious that something out of the ordinary is going on, and maybe it’s time to turn to God?

Yet we see people every day, all over the place, who give no consideration to God whatsoever, or to what might well be His judgment in action, or signs pointing to things to come.  They seem to be blind to the truth that we ourselves see, the truth as written in our Bible.  They have no heart for God or for His Son Jesus, nor true love for their fellow man.  There is no room in them for God’s Holy Spirit to reside.  This is such a sad condition for them, but it is one that Jesus told us we would see.

Please listen and follow along to a passage that the Apostle John saved for us in the 12th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 35 through 50, and I’ll be reading this from the Living Bible…

35 Jesus replied, “My light will shine out for you just a little while longer. Walk in it while you can, and go where you want to go before the darkness falls, for then it will be too late for you to find your way. 36 Make use of the Light while there is still time; then you will become light bearers.”

After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them. 

37 But despite all the miracles He had done, most of the people would not believe He was the Messiah. 38 This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: “Lord, who will believe us? Who will accept God’s mighty miracles as proof?” 39 But they couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said: 40 “God has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts so that they can neither see nor understand nor turn to Me to heal them.” 41 Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he made this prediction, for he had seen a vision of the Messiah’s glory.

42 However, even many of the Jewish leaders believed Him to be the Messiah but wouldn’t admit it to anyone because of their fear that the Pharisees would excommunicate them from the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

44 Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust Me, you are really trusting God. 45 For when you see Me, you are seeing the One who sent Me. 46 I have come as a Light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me will no longer wander in the darkness. 47 If anyone hears Me and doesn’t obey Me, I am not his judge — for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. 48 But all who reject Me and My message will be judged at the Day of Judgment by the truths I have spoken. 49 For these are not My own ideas, but I have told you what the Father said to tell you. 50 And I know His instructions lead to eternal life; so whatever He tells Me to say, I say!”

--John 12:35-50 (TLB)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for telling us what is in store in the future.  You’ve given us signs to look for that will indicate our Lord’s return is near at hand, some of which we are seeing even today.  Please help us notice and not miss these signs.  Help us be ever prepared by staying right with You and doing as Jesus commands us.  And Father, please put up a hedge of protection between us and Satan and those who do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Open our eyes that we might always see Your truth.  Open our hearts that we might love others as You and Jesus love us.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Thomas Huxley was an English biologist and anthropologist most famous for his defense of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.  Huxley was also a noted agnostic, neither believing nor disbelieving in God.  Agnostics say we can’t know for sure because we have no tangible proof.  Well, one day Huxley was lovingly confronted by a very sincere Christian.  This believer stressed to Huxley that he was not in any way impugning Huxley's sincerity.  Nevertheless, might it not be possible that mentally the great scientist was color blind?  That is, some people cannot see traces of green where other people cannot help but see it.  Could it be that this was Huxley's problem -- that he was simply blind to truth that was quite evident to others?  Huxley, being a man of integrity, admitted that this was possible, and added that if it were, he himself, of course, could not know or recognize it.

How would you describe a beautiful sunset to someone born blind, in a meaningful way for them?  If you told them the sun’s last rays were painting pink and purple streaks across the sky, could they really know what you mean, could they recognize it?

The Pharisee Saul enjoyed physical vision, but he was spiritually blind.  It was not until Jesus took away his eyesight that Paul was able to see the truth.  Too many people are walking around today with good eyesight but in spiritual blindness.

Back in 1991, 50 mile-an-hour winds whipped the local topsoil into a freak dust storm near Coalinga, California, causing a massive pileup and three-mile trail of destruction along the interstate there.  At least 14 people died and many, many more were injured as visibility was reduced to zero.  Yet even though they were unable to see, dozens of people drove blindly ahead into disaster.  Could it be that, today, millions of people are walking blindly through this life headed straight into everlasting disaster?

Jesus said that there will be those whose eyes are blinded so they cannot see the truth, whose hearts are hardened so they cannot believe.  And indeed, that was true in His day and it is still true in ours.

The Pharisees were blinded, thinking they were doing the work of God.  Paul admitted to that, after his conversion.  He was blinded spiritually, then Jesus blinded him physically in order to give him spiritual sight.  The Pharisees’ hearts were hardened so that they could not believe in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.

And that trend holds true today.  So many are blind to the truth, so many have hard, disbelieving hearts.  And Jesus says they are in this condition so that they cannot see nor believe.  Like Huxley, they don’t even realize that they’re blind.  God has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, according to the prophet Isaiah.  There are some non-believers who can still be saved, but not these.  God has already condemned these to eternal damnation.

Family, we must take care not to become part of that blind and hard-hearted group.  And we should try to keep those who might still be saved from being in that group as well.  We need to keep our faith strong and active, showing the light of Jesus to the world so that some may stop stumbling around in darkness.  We can’t just sit back and say we’re going to be OK so let’s just let God sort out the rest.  Jesus told us to get out there and work, spreading the Gospel message of hope and making more disciples.  Coming to church and sitting in the pews on Sunday mornings is not enough to fully please our Lord.

In His revelation to His beloved John, Jesus instructed the Apostle to write letters to the seven churches in Asia, intending, of course, that we read them, too.  Listen to what Jesus had to say in one of those letters, as saved by John in chapter 3 of his Book of Revelation, verses 14 through 22…

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”

--Revelation 3:14-22 (NKJV)

Jesus knows our works, as individuals and as a church.  He knows what we’ve done, and why we’ve done it.  So are we hot, or are we cold?  If we’re cold for God, then we need to sit in the oven for a little while or get moving and heat up.  But we definitely do not want to be lukewarm, lest Jesus spit us out of the kingdom of heaven.

Now I don’t think any of us here would consider ourselves or our church to be rich and wealthy in the physical sense, the financial sense.  But maybe we do think ourselves quite rich spiritually.  We believe in Jesus, we’re saved, so we’re rich.  Jesus is telling us not to let ourselves get complacent, not to get too comfortable in our spiritual wealth.  We might just become wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, spiritually.  Complacency leads to a lukewarm spirit, and Jesus does not like that.

The world is full of people with blind eyes and hard hearts.  For some, this is a permanent condition, stretching into eternity.  Others might still be saved.  Like Paul, their eyes may be opened and their hearts softened to see and accept the truth so that they too can serve Jesus and be granted entry into heaven.  But they need our help.

So if we’re feeling a bit lukewarm, let’s shake things up and get moving.  Jesus knows our works so let’s show Him some good ones.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God, the Light, the Truth.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for choosing us to believe in Your Son Jesus.  Thank You for letting us see the truth of Your word, for letting us feel Your great love.  Thank You, Father, for not blinding our eyes, for not hardening our hearts to the truth.  Father, please help us remain steadfast in our faith and hope even in these trying times.  Help us serve You and do Your work among the blind and hopeless.  Help us be more righteous in Your eyes.

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 faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You brought the light of God into this world darkened by sin.  You shine on the path we should walk so that we might not stumble and fall.  Please, Lord, help us be Your light bearers.  Help us share Your light so that others might not be tripped up by Satan.  Help us burn with the fire for serving You and doing as You command us.  And Jesus, please help us keep our focus on the needs of others rather than on anything this life has to offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Is God Angry?

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 31st of January, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Have you ever asked yourself the question, “Is God angry at me?”  “Have I finally done something bad enough to make Him really mad?”  “My whole world is falling apart so He must be punishing me, right?”  I’ve known some folks to ask that and follow it up with the excuse, “But I see other people doing the same thing all the time, and they’re making out just fine.”  So they are judging the actions of others while doing the same thing and then wondering if God is angry.

Well, the Apostle Paul has something to say about this.  Please listen and follow along to the message Paul sent to the church in Rome in chapter 2 of his letter to the Romans, verses 1 through 11, and I’ll be reading this from the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible…

1 Some of you accuse others of doing wrong. But there is no excuse for what you do. When you judge others, you condemn yourselves, because you are guilty of doing the very same things. 2 We know that God is right to judge everyone who behaves in this way. 3 Do you really think God won’t punish you, when you behave exactly like the people you accuse? 4 You surely don’t think much of God’s wonderful goodness or of His patience and willingness to put up with you. Don’t you know that the reason God is good to you is because He wants you to turn to Him?

5 But you are stubborn and refuse to turn to God. So you are making things even worse for yourselves on that day when He will show how angry He is and will judge the world with fairness. 6 God will reward each of us for what we have done. 7 He will give eternal life to everyone who has patiently done what is good in the hope of receiving glory, honor, and life that lasts forever. 8 But He will show how angry and furious He can be with every selfish person who rejects the truth and wants to do evil. 9 All who are wicked will be punished with trouble and suffering. It doesn’t matter if they are Jews or Gentiles. 10 But all who do right will be rewarded with glory, honor, and peace, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 11 God doesn’t have any favorites!

--Romans 2:1-11 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for being so patient with us, for putting up with all our foolishness for as long as You have.  We know that someday the world will experience Your full wrath again, when You show Your full anger to all who reject the truth, who reject Your Son Jesus and do evil.  Please help us turn from our disobedient ways so we can avoid Your anger.  Help us be more obedient to Your commands.  And Father, please shield us from Satan and those who do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Help us remain ever faithful and true to You and Jesus.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

One of the authors for the Reader's Digest magazine once wrote how he had studied the Amish people in preparation for an article on them.  In his observation at an Amish school yard, he noted that the children never screamed or yelled.  This amazed him, so he spoke to the schoolmaster.  He remarked how he had not once heard an Amish child yell, and asked why the schoolmaster thought that was so.  The schoolmaster replied, "Well, have you ever heard an Amish adult yell?"

Most of us would say that we’re not teachers.  Yet we constantly teach those around us, especially the young.  We teach by the example we set, by how we do things, by how we react to given situations.  When we believe an injustice has been done, do we react with shouts of indignation and acts of violence?  Then we teach the children to scream and be violent.  When we are tolerant and forgiving of others and their flaws and their ways of doing things, we teach the children to be tolerant and forgiving.

If we want to change the world, we need to change how we ourselves react to it.

Paul says a lot in those few verses this morning.  Jesus said that we should not judge other people because we will be judged by the same measure.  Paul confirms that and adds that we actually condemn ourselves if we judge others for the wrongs they do because we do wrongs ourselves!  And if we are so stubborn we continue to keep on doing wrong, keep on disobeying God and not turning from our sinful ways, then we’re just making it worse for ourselves when that final judgment comes.

Because here’s the thing: God will judge the entire world with fairness.  He will be impartial.  He will show no favoritism.  Last week we saw how judgment includes punishment, and that God's punishment is consistent and fair.  Well, His judgment is also consistent and fair, with fair meaning impartial and just.

If we have done wrong we will be punished, and if we have done good we will be rewarded.  If we truly accept Jesus as our Lord, obeying His commands and following His path, then we will be spared the ultimate punishment, the second death.  But then again, if we do fully accept and obey Jesus, we won’t be doing wicked things in the first place, we won’t be selfish people who reject the truth and want to do evil.  Those people will be punished severely, with trouble and suffering, as Paul puts it.  But all who do right will be rewarded with glory and honor and peace when this age ends.

God is impartial.  Jew or Gentile, good at heart or bad, it doesn’t matter – if we do wrong, we will be punished.  And that punishment will certainly come in the next life, but sometimes we see it in this life, too.  Sometimes we see bad people being punished, but it seems good people are suffering right along with them.

Why?  Because the sun shines and the rain falls on all people, both good and bad.  One of those things we’re supposed to do as followers of Christ Jesus is to love all others, including our enemies.  The Apostle Matthew recorded an explanation by Jesus of why we should do so, in the 5th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 44 through 46…

44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?"

--Matthew 5:44-46 (NKJV)

God created all of us, and He is impartial in His treatment of all of us.  Good or bad, we all receive His gifts of sunshine and rain, His blessings in our lives.  And He wants us to be impartial, too, to treat everyone with love and respect.  He wants us to not judge others, especially if we’re doing the same sort of things we’re accusing them of.  He wants us to love all others, not just those who love us or look like us or think like us.

So God is impartial in His judgment and punishment, but He is also impartial in His resurrections.  At the last, God will raise both the just and the unjust back to life, as attested by Paul to Felix, the governor, when Paul was defending himself against charges brought by the Jews.  The Apostle Luke recorded this defense in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, in chapter 24, verse 15, when Paul proclaimed…

15 "I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust."

--Acts 24:15 (NKJV)

There will be a resurrection of the dead, both those who were just in this life, and the unjust, the good and the bad.  We will all be resurrected, impartially.  We will all be judged, impartially.  And God’s punishment will be consistent and fair.

We need to make sure we are among the just, the good, and not be stubborn and reject the truth by rejecting Jesus.  We may say we believe in Jesus, but if we do not follow His commands, if we fail to do what He tells us to do, then we are, in effect, rejecting Him by rejecting His authority over us.  That is a no-no that will be severely punished.

Getting back to that question, “Is God angry?”  Are we seeing God’s anger and wrath right now, in our nation, in the world around us?  I think yes, we are.  I think we have thumbed our nose at God and given only lip-service to Jesus long enough now and God is punishing us.  Just like He often punished the Jews, His chosen people, even to the extent of allowing them to be conquered and carried off into slavery.  And I think He is punishing us for the same reason as He did them: to humble us and bring us back to Himself.

As a people, we need to get down on our knees and humble ourselves before God Almighty.  We need to stop just saying we believe in Jesus and start actually acting like it.  We need to turn from our sinful, disobedient ways and turn back to God.  Maybe then His anger will dissipate and we will again see His smile in our lives and feel the warmth of His love.

Let us love the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind, and love all others, even our enemies.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God, the Truth.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for being so patient with us, for giving us so many opportunities to turn back to You and stop being so  disobedient.  We can read in our Bible of time after time when You displayed Your anger, even toward Your chosen people, because of wickedness and evil ways.  Thank You, Father, for giving us every chance to do good.  We know You are impartial and we want to be on Your good side.  Father, please help us be more just.  Help us be more righteous in Your sight.  Help us be less judgmental and more loving to all.

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 faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, we say we believe in You, but we don’t always act like it.  Too often we fail to do as You have commanded us, not truly accepting You as our Master.  Please, Lord, help us follow Your voice, follow the path You set for us.  Help us love as You would have us love.  Help us show the world that our Father in heaven is angry with us so that they might see the truth and turn back to God.  And Jesus, please help us keep our focus on the needs of others rather than on anything this life has to offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Judgment

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 24th of January, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

While Jesus still walked this earth, He kept telling His followers what would soon happen, how He would be sacrificed for our sins, die and be buried, but then rise again from the dead before ascending back into heaven, with the promise of returning someday to take His church home.  He also told them of the judgment to follow, judgment for the whole world.  But the disciples didn’t really understand what Jesus was trying to impart, not until after He died and was resurrected and they saw with their own eyes the truth of His words.

Perhaps most notable of those who had trouble grasping what Jesus told him was Peter.  But he finally did get it, he finally saw the truth, and then tried to share it with everyone else.  Please listen and follow along to the words the Apostle Peter wrote in his 2nd letter to the early church, from chapter 1 verse 19 through chapter 2 verse 17, and I’ll be reading from the Living Bible this morning…

1:19 So we have seen and proved that what the prophets said came true. You will do well to pay close attention to everything they have written, for, like lights shining into dark corners, their words help us to understand many things that otherwise would be dark and difficult. But when you consider the wonderful truth of the prophets’ words, then the light will dawn in your souls and Christ the Morning Star will shine in your hearts. 20-21 For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God.

2:1 But there were false prophets, too, in those days, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly tell their lies about God, turning against even their Master who bought them; but theirs will be a swift and terrible end. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching that there is nothing wrong with sexual sin. And because of them Christ and His way will be scoffed at.

3 These teachers in their greed will tell you anything to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago and their destruction is on the way. 4 For God did not spare even the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, chained in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day. 5 And He did not spare any of the people who lived in ancient times before the flood except Noah, the one man who spoke up for God, and his family of seven. At that time God completely destroyed the whole world of ungodly men with the vast flood. 6 Later, He turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and blotted them off the face of the earth, making them an example for all the ungodly in the future to look back upon and fear.

7-8 But at the same time the Lord rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man, sick of the terrible wickedness he saw everywhere around him day after day. 9 So also the Lord can rescue you and me from the temptations that surround us, and continue to punish the ungodly until the day of final judgment comes. 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful thoughts, and those who are proud and willful, daring even to scoff at the Glorious Ones without so much as trembling, 11 although the angels in heaven who stand in the very presence of the Lord, and are far greater in power and strength than these false teachers, never speak out disrespectfully against these evil Mighty Ones.

12 But false teachers are fools — no better than animals. They do whatever they feel like; born only to be caught and killed, they laugh at the terrifying powers of the underworld which they know so little about; and they will be destroyed along with all the demons and powers of hell.

13 That is the pay these teachers will have for their sin. For they live in evil pleasures day after day. They are a disgrace and a stain among you, deceiving you by living in foul sin on the side while they join your love feasts as though they were honest men. 14 No woman can escape their sinful stare, and of adultery they never have enough. They make a game of luring unstable women. They train themselves to be greedy; and are doomed and cursed. 15 They have gone off the road and become lost like Balaam, the son of Beor, who fell in love with the money he could make by doing wrong; 16 but Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey spoke to him with a human voice, scolding and rebuking him.

17 These men are as useless as dried-up springs of water, promising much and delivering nothing; they are as unstable as clouds driven by the storm winds. They are doomed to the eternal pits of darkness.

--2 Peter 1:19-2:17 (TLB)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for giving our early church leaders insight into Your truth.  Even the men who walked with Your Son for three years had trouble understanding everything until You opened their eyes.  Please help us understand as well.  Thank You for giving us Your words in our Bible, so that we can better understand.  And Father, please protect us from those who work for the devil and who would lead us away from Your Son Jesus.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Help us spend more time in our Bibles so that we can better grasp the truth You have given us.  Teach us all we need to know.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

In South Africa, naturist club owner Beau Brummell was irked by accusations from morals watchdogs that a shriveling Transvaal drought was brought on by the "sin" of nude togetherness at his 1000-acre farm.  So he asked his 370 visitors to get dressed.  And, for the first time in two months, it poured rain.  "It's enough to make me become a monk!", Brummell grumbled.

You’ve probably heard of Beau Brummell, usually associated with clothing rather than nudity.  But there he was, owner of a club where guests could run around nude all the time.  And the land was experiencing a horrible drought.  The locals complained that the drought was God’s punishment for the sin being allowed to continue at Brummell’s club.  Finally, Brummell asked his guests to get dressed, and just like that it started to rain and the drought ended.  It’s like God had passed judgment on the entire Transvaal region because of the sin of Brummell’s club.  Sort of like Sodom and Gomorrah, maybe?

A gentleman by the name of John Endsley once said, "It is not the severity of punishment that acts as a deterrent.  It is its inevitability."  Well, when it comes to the punishment God dispenses, it can be both very severe and entirely consistent.

Yet we tend to ignore what He has done in the past, or think He would never do that to us.  Perhaps we're beginning to see how wrong that line of thinking truly is.

And that should have been evident to us all along.  As Peter noted, we have seen and proved that what the prophets said came true.  Everything Jesus said has come true.  What the apostles saved for us in their Gospel accounts and their letters has come true.  So we would do well to pay close attention to everything they have written, everything saved in our Bibles for us.  Their words are like lights shining into dark corners, showing us what might otherwise be kept dark and hidden, difficult to understand.

And the devil would much prefer we not see and understand that there are those among us who would mislead us.  There are men and women standing in their pulpits this very morning telling lies about God and Jesus, saying that everything in our Bible is subject to our own interpretation, twisting God’s words to meet their own personal agendas.  There are those in positions of authority, even in our seminaries, who say there are no absolute truths, that there are many ways to heaven other than through Jesus alone, that there is nothing sinful about having sex with whoever, or whatever, you want, that we can treat anyone anyway we want as long as we “believe”.

Sadly, many people will be led astray because of them.  Many people will step off the straight and narrow path and follow the road of personal pleasure and gain.  And worst of all, this will cause Jesus and His way of truth, and those who follow Him, to be scoffed at and ridiculed.

Those who do follow Jesus, who try to stay on His path, should remember that God has promised that this sort of misbehavior will not go unpunished.  These false prophets, false teachers, will be severely punished for they are already condemned.  After all, God did not spare the angels who rebelled against Him, nor the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, nor all the world’s people except for Noah and his family when He brought forth the great flood.

God’s punishment is severe and inevitable.  As Peter notes, He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful thoughts, on those who are proud and willful, on those who spread their lies.

We need to understand that everyone will be judged at the last, but the fate of the wicked will be horrible.  To avoid their fate, we must do as Peter warns and be very wary those who teach anything counter to what our Bible says.

The Apostle Jude very closely echoed the words of Peter in his own letter to the early church, holding to the same truth that the wicked will be punished.  Listen to what Jude wrote in the opening chapter of his letter, verses 3 through 11…

3 Dearly loved friends, I had been planning to write you some thoughts about the salvation God has given us, but now I find I must write of something else instead, urging you to stoutly defend the truth that God gave once for all to His people to keep without change through the years. 4 I say this because some godless teachers have wormed their way in among you, saying that after we become Christians we can do just as we like without fear of God’s punishment. The fate of such people was written long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

5 My answer to them is: Remember this fact — which you know already — that the Lord saved a whole nation of people out of the land of Egypt and then killed every one of them who did not trust and obey Him. 6 And I remind you of those angels who were once pure and holy but turned to a life of sin. Now God has them chained up in prisons of darkness, waiting for the judgment day. 7 And don’t forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind, including lust of men for other men. Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue to be a warning to us that there is a hell in which sinners are punished.

8 Yet these false teachers carelessly go right on living their evil, immoral lives, degrading their bodies and laughing at those in authority over them, even scoffing at the Glorious Ones. 9 Yet Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, when he was arguing with Satan about Moses’ body, did not dare to accuse even Satan, or jeer at him, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10 But these men mock and curse at anything they do not understand, and like animals, they do whatever they feel like, thereby ruining their souls.

11 Woe upon them! For they follow the example of Cain who killed his brother; and like Balaam, they will do anything for money; and like Korah, they have disobeyed God and will die under his curse.

--Jude 1:3-11 (TLB)

Jude felt the great need to “stoutly defend the truth that God gave once for all to His people to keep without change through the years”.  Why?  Because there were too many false teachers going around spreading untruths, or interpreting things in a way God did not intend.

God’s word is forever, constant, unchanging.  It does not “evolve” with the times, as some people might want us to think.  To teach otherwise, to get people to believe otherwise, will bring condemnation and God’s punishment.

Jude warns that just because we now accept Jesus as our Lord, that doesn’t mean we can go back to doing whatever we want without worrying about being punished for what God has said is wrong!  Anyone who says differently is a false teacher, and they will be punished.

These false prophets, false teachers, remain disobedient to God.  They carelessly, disdainfully go right on living their evil, immoral lives, degrading their bodies and laughing at those in authority over them.  Woe upon them!  Woe upon them, for they have disobeyed God and will die under His condemnation.

Family, we need to heed the warnings Peter and Jude give.  We must beware those who would tell us that what our Bible says is not strictly true, or that it only applies to ancient times or to certain people or in particular circumstances.  We must avoid false prophets and their teachings, but to do so, we need to better understand just what it is that our Bible tells us.

Too many people spend no time at all reading their Bible.  We need to sit down, open our Bible and read it.  And if we can’t easily understand what we’re reading, then we need to get a different version or even invest a little in a good Study Bible.  Of course, there are some parts that still won’t be very easy to grasp, even with repeated reading and much study.  That’s where prayer comes in - prayer for clarity, insight, and vision.

So let’s get into our Bibles more, and pray for God to open up our eyes and our minds and our hearts to His word, His truth.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God, the Truth.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You so much for our Bible and all the truth and warnings it holds for us.  In it You have saved Your eternal word, so that we might know what is coming and what to expect when this age ends.  Thank You, Father, for providing this for our benefit.  We know we need to spend more time reading it, but sometimes we are confused by what we read.  Father, please help us better understand.  Please give us clarity and insight into Your truth and word.

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 faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, when You walked this earth, You told Your followers what to expect, not only in their time but as the age draws to a close.  In turn, they recorded those words, in their accounts of Your life and in their letters to the early church.  Please, Lord, help us better understand what they saved for us.  Help us recognize and beware those who would tell us lies about God’s word.  Help us show the world the truth that comes from God alone.  Let the whole world see that truth so they might believe in You and accept You as Lord.  And Jesus, please help us keep our focus on the needs of others rather than on anything this life might tempt us with.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Good and Faithful Servants

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 17th of January, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  The service also included the ordination of a Deacon and the installation of church officers.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

When we select folks to serve as officers for our church, we ask them to represent us in the affairs of the church, both spiritual and physical.  We place a certain amount of trust in their decision making skills.  We entrust into their care the resources of the church.  And we pledge our support, again both spiritual and physical.

In return, they agree to serve the church to the best of their abilities.  This requires setting aside any personal objectives and agendas and seeking only what is best for the entire church family.

I think it never hurts for us all to be reminded of what our Lord Jesus expects of those who would be good and faithful servants.  Please listen and follow along to the words of Jesus that the Apostle Matthew recorded for us in the 25th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 14 through 30, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"

--Matthew 25:14-30 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for all the blessings You shower upon us and all the resources You entrust into our care.  Please help us be good stewards of those resources so that one day we too might hear those beautiful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  And Father, please protect us from all the devil’s wickedness in this world.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Show us what You really expect of those who would serve You.  Teach us how to be good and faithful servants.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Craig Brian Larson recounted this little story in his book, Pastoral Grit: the Strength to Stand and to Stay:

In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. According to Leon Jaroff in Time, the satellite's primary mission was to reach Jupiter, photograph the planet and its moons, and beam data to earth about Jupiter's magnetic field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan, for at that time no earth satellite had ever gone beyond Mars, and they feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could reach its target. But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much, much more. Swinging past the giant planet in November 1973, Jupiter's immense gravity hurled Pioneer 10 at a higher rate of speed toward the edge of the solar system. At one billion miles from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune at nearly three billion miles; Pluto at almost four billion miles. By 1997, twenty-five years after its launch, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun.

And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back radio signals to scientists on Earth. "Perhaps most remarkable," writes Jaroff, "those signals emanate from an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light, and takes more than nine hours to reach Earth.'" The Little Satellite That Could was not qualified to do what it did. Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a useful life of just three years. But it kept going and going. By simple longevity, its tiny 8-watt transmitter radio accomplished more than anyone thought possible.

So it is when we offer ourselves to serve the Lord. God can work even through someone with 8-watt abilities. God cannot work, however, through someone who quits.

In our scripture reading, Jesus describes three servants of a lord who took some time away for a journey.  Before leaving, he entrusted those servants with some of his resources.  Each servant had their own ability, their own transmitter wattage, if you will.

The first two did great, just like Pioneer 10, maybe even exceeding what the lord expected.  The third, though, basically quit.  He was afraid to do anything, so he did nothing.  He gave up, and did not serve his lord.  He did not give God a chance to work through him.  We need to be more like Pioneer 10.

Now when we look at what the first two servants did to earn their lord’s compliments and reward, we basically see that they increased his personal wealth by making wise investments.  So is that what Jesus wants us to do, is that why He gave us this parable, to increase our wealth or maybe the wealth of His church?  No, I don’t think so, because the Pharisees tried that one and He didn’t take too kindly to it.  So that would lead us to wonder what other types of “resources” might Jesus have entrusted into our care that we can invest and gain an increase.

First we do need to understand that the “lord” in this parable is indeed our Lord Jesus, and the “journey” He went on was back to heaven, to return to earth someday.  So what did Jesus give us, what has He entrusted to us, what has He asked us to do?  Through God, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, to live within us and guide our actions, our thoughts, our words, our every deed.  Through God, Jesus gives us faith – the faith to believe in Him as the Son of God, the Christ, our Savior.  And most of all, Jesus gave us love.  He asks of us that we love one another and that we go into the world making more disciples for Him.  This is how we return an increase on the investment He made in us, by spreading His love and helping others come to believe in Him as Lord.

Of course, everything we have comes from God.  And He has entrusted certain resources into our care.  To be good servants, we must be good stewards of those resources.

This is also true of those of us who serve as church leaders, for God has entrusted much into our care.  We have financial means to not only keep the church functional and fiscally healthy, but also to serve the community and help those in need.  Being a good and faithful servant requires us to not use this resource only for ourselves or sit on it like the third servant did.  By using it to help others, we return an increase of good will to our Lord.

Now we ask our church leaders to be good and trustworthy stewards of these resources.  We ask them to make wise decisions on anything that would impact the church or its place in the community.  And if we ourselves are wise, we will follow the advice of the Apostle Paul when choosing those who would lead us.  In chapter 3 of his 1st letter to his young friend and protégé Timothy, verses 1 through 7, Paul says this of the ideal church leader…

1 It is true that anyone who desires to be a church official wants to be something worthwhile. 2 That’s why officials must have a good reputation and be faithful in marriage. They must be self-controlled, sensible, well-behaved, friendly to strangers, and able to teach. 3 They must not be heavy drinkers or troublemakers. Instead, they must be kind and gentle and not love money.

4 Church officials must be in control of their own families, and they must see that their children are obedient and always respectful. 5 If they don’t know how to control their own families, how can they look after God’s people?

6 They must not be new followers of the Lord. If they are, they might become proud and be doomed along with the devil. 7 Finally, they must be well-respected by people who are not followers. Then they won’t be trapped and disgraced by the devil.

--1 Timothy 3:1-7 (CEV)

I truly believe the people we have chosen to represent us and lead our church in the days ahead definitely fit the profile Paul laid out.  The one point I think we all need to be very aware of is in verse 7, that our leaders must be “well-respected by people who are not followers”.  This means well-respected by non-believers as well as by believers.

And furthermore, I believe this applies to all of us who follow Jesus as our Lord.  Why?  Because any non-believer will be judging us all on the behavior of any of us they interact with.  To them, we might as well all be leaders of the church.  So in this regard, we all need to meet Paul’s guidelines.

Family, we are the church, the body of Christ Jesus left on this earth to carry out His mission of sharing His love with the world and making new believers for Him.  To the world, we represent the whole church.  Let’s all try our best to be good leaders.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, You chose us to be followers of Your Son Jesus, and to be leaders in the faith.  In turn, we choose those who would see to our needs and lead our family into the future.  Thank You, Father, for giving us our leaders.  Father, please help us all be good leaders, not only among ourselves but in the non-believing world also.  Help us be good stewards of the resources You have entrusted into our care.

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

Lord Jesus, You not only taught us by Your words but You also led us by Your example.  In this way, and by Paul’s instructions, we know how we should lead, both within the church and within the greater community.  Please, Lord, help us be good servants and faithfully and humbly carry out the mission You gave us.  Help us show the world what a true follower looks like.  Let the world see You through us.  Help us keep our focus on the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Get Rid of the Old Stuff

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 10th of January, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  We also observed Holy Communion this morning.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Our risen and ascended Lord Jesus reached out and touched a man traveling along a dusty road one day and completely changed his life.  The Pharisee named Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christian converts and take them back to stand trial in Jerusalem.  But before he could complete that mission, or really even get it started, his life took a 180-degree turn.  Jesus blinded his eyes and gave sight to his heart, and Paul became a new man.

Now Paul soon realized that since he had been given new life, it was important that he, and all believers, maintain that “newness” and not go back to the old ways of doing things.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Paul wrote in chapter 3 of his letter to the Colossians, verses 1 through 15, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is our life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.

5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming on all who disobey Him. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us.

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

--Colossians 3:1-15 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for making us new again when we accept Your Son Jesus as our Lord!  Thank You for giving us new life, another chance to get things right.  Please help us to keep this “newness” in our spirit by truly following Jesus and serving only Him.  And please, Father, protect us from all of Satan’s evil work in this world.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Blind our eyes to the faults of others and open our hearts to loving them as You love us.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Frances Ridley Havergal, English religious poet and hymn writer (among others, she wrote, "Take My Life and Let it Be") penned this little poem about the new year:

Another year is dawning,

Dear Father let it be,

In working or in waiting,

Another year with thee.

Another year of progress,

Another year of praise,

Another year of proving

Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies,

Of faithfulness and grace,

Another year of gladness,

The glory of thy face.

Another year of leaning

Upon thy loving breast,

Another year of trusting,

Of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service,

Of witness for thy love,

Another year of training

For holier work above.

Another year is dawning,

Dear Father, let it be,

On earth, or else in heaven,

Another year for thee.

As I read that lovely verse, it seems to me that Ms. Havergal is making a New Year’s resolution.  But unlike most such resolutions, she doesn’t say a thing about going on a diet, or quitting smoking, or not watching soap operas all day long.  She is kind of promising to do a better job of time management, though.

Everything in that “resolution” is about God – about serving Him, spending more time with Him.  I think this is something we all need to resolve, to spend more time with God.  Wouldn’t you agree?

As I sort of alluded to in the invocation, the start of a new year is a good time to get rid of the old stuff in our life.  That’s pretty much what most New Year’s resolutions focus on: getting rid of old habits, changing one’s lifestyle in some positive way.  Even though we usually think of Spring as a time for a thorough cleaning, I believe the new year’s beginning is a great time to toss out the junk in our lives.

And a lot of our “junk” revolves around “things”, stuff we’ve accumulated.  Now when I say that, I want to be sure we understand that also - maybe mostly – includes our attitude about “things”.  Paul says we should set our sights on the realities of heaven, not the things of earth.  So right there is some of the old stuff we need to get rid of: our obsession with the things of this world.

But Paul goes on to say we need to do away with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, for these are all forms of idolatry.  Toss them out!  Get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language, and don’t lie to each other.  It’s time to strip off our old sinful nature and all its wicked ways and put on the new nature that God has given us through Jesus Christ His Son.

Now when Paul wrote a letter to one of the churches, it was really intended to be passed around and read by all the churches he had started or served.  So this letter to the Colossians would have also been read by the Thessalonians, the Philippians, the Corinthians, the Ephesians, even by the folks in the church in Rome.  The same holds true for the letter he wrote to the church in Ephesus, where, in the 4th chapter, verses 17 through 24, he said this…

17 As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, Godless people. 18 Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, 19 and they are so greedy that they do all kinds of indecent things.

20-21 But that isn’t what you were taught about Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and you heard about Him and learned about Him. 22 You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. 23 Let the Spirit change your way of thinking 24 and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please Him and be truly holy.

--Ephesians 4:17-24 (CEV)

Paul doesn’t hold back any punches, does he.  He orders all the good members of all those churches to stop living like stupid, Godless people.  And oh, by the way, he orders us, too, because God meant for us to read these letters in our time.

Paul orders us to get rid of our stubbornness and ignorance and greed.  If we don’t toss them out, our foolish desires will destroy us!  We’ve all seen cases where exactly that happened, where someone was utterly destroyed because they gave in to their base desires.

We must give up our old way of life with all its bad habits and let this new life through Christ Jesus take over.  Give way to the Spirit, and let Him change our way of thinking, our way of dealing with others, our way of coping with life.

Family, there’s no better time to get rid of the old stuff than right now.  For in just a few moments we will be partaking of the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus.  Paul tells us not to come to this table with any of that old, bad stuff still in our hearts.  We must be right with God, having forgiven old hurts, tossing out personal pride, flinging off biases and prejudices towards others.

Please take these next few minutes to get rid of that old stuff so we can all come to the table together with a right heart.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, we’ve accumulated so much junk in our life.  Some things we’ve even taken to hoarding, refusing to get rid of them, things like hatreds and distrusts and fear.  Father, sometimes we just forget that You have given us new life through Your Son, and we revert back to our old self.  Thank You, Father, for this new life and please forgive us when we fall back into our old ways.  Please help us maintain that new person You made us.  Help us finally and completely get rid of the old stuff so we can better serve You.

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

Lord Jesus, You were executed and died, punished for our sins.  But You didn’t stay dead!  You rose to new life so that we too could defeat death.  You were made new again and through You we too are made new!  Please, Lord, help us throw off the old person and truly be new.  Let the world see the new person in us so that they might see You.  Help us get rid of the old stuff that blinds us to God’s power and sovereignty, that causes us to look bad in God’s eyes.  Forgive us, Jesus, when we just won’t let go of the world and all its things.  Forgive us when we can’t release our hatreds and pride, our anger and greed, our distrust for those not like us.  Help us toss all that out so that people can see Your love through our love and service.  Help us be new.  And Jesus, please strengthen us through these very difficult times.  Heal those hurts that separate and divide us, even within Your church family.  Help us remain true and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

From a Manger to the Cross

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the Sunday after Christmas day, the 27th of December, 2020, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

I just love the Christmas story as the Apostle Luke wrote it.  The Jews expected their Messiah to come as a conquering hero, but it didn’t happen that way.  Just the opposite; He came as an innocent, vulnerable baby, attended to by cows and sheep and shepherds.  Mary and Joseph couldn’t even find decent lodgings for her to give birth in, and had to seek shelter in a stable.  And there the little Baby Jesus was born and laid in a manger, a feeding trough, the King of all kings.

Sometime later, we don’t know exactly when, a small group of very learned men, following a heavenly sign, traveled a great distance to see this newborn King.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Matthew recorded for us in the 2nd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 12, and I’ll be reading this from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

For out of you shall come a Ruler

Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

--Matthew 2:1-12 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for giving us the very best Christmas gift ever!  Thank You for giving us Your own Son, who came humbly to live among us and teach us, and who died so that our sins might be washed away.  Thank You, Father, for loving us this much.  Please help us to better understand exactly what the birth and death of Jesus mean to all of mankind, and what His resurrection means for we who believe and follow Him.  And please, Father, protect us from all of the devil’s evil work in this world.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  May we learn from the humble life Jesus lived and model our own lives after His.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

I may have told this before, and if so, please forgive me, but it doesn't hurt to hear it again.  There's a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged.  The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail.  Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper.  The ad read: "Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday.  All is forgiven.  I love you. Your Father."  On Saturday, 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.

I can’t help but wonder how many people today are looking for forgiveness and love from their Father, their heavenly Father.  We really don’t have to look very far.  We don’t have to go anywhere at any specific time on a given day.  All we have to do is open our hearts to God’s Holy Spirit and say, “Father, forgive me.”

Jesus has already paid the price for our forgiveness, for our eternal life.  We just need to fully accept Him as Lord to accept God’s wonderful gift of forgiveness and love.  What can we do to help people understand that?

It’s hard to imagine any more humble surroundings for the Son of God to be born into this world.  A stable complete with animals and, I’m sure, their smells.  Lowly shepherds, following the directions of an angel, came to visit and see the holy Infant.

And then, according to Matthew, wise men came to see for themselves the King that had been foretold.  They brought expensive gifts, befitting a king.  When they bowed before the Christ child, they did not see the lowliness of it all.  They saw only forgiveness and love.  I believe the Apostle John describes why they could see this in his 1st letter to the early church, in chapter 4 verses 9 and 10…

9 God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. 10 This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 

--1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)

Jesus came to us because His Father sent Him, because His Father loves us this much.  He came as one of us so we could relate to Him.  He came humbly, lived humbly, so that we could learn to be humble, too.  And He went to the cross humbly, willingly, to carry out His Father’s plan of salvation for mankind.

A common question is why did Jesus have to suffer so much and die the way He died?  Couldn’t God have accomplished His plan some other less brutal way?  The answer can be found in the words of the author of the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 9 verses 19 through 28…

19 For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool. 20 Then he said, “This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you.” 21 And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship. 22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.

24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. 25 And He did not enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. 26 If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, He has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by His own death as a sacrifice. 

27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him.

--Hebrews 9:19-28 (NLT)

God set the rules in place long ago: only the blood of an innocent, spotless lamb can redeem us of our sin.  Jesus remained humble, innocent, spotless, so that His sacrifice upon that cruel cross would cleanse us in the eyes of God.  One perfect sacrifice for all mankind – once, for all.

And all anyone has to do to benefit from God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice is to accept Jesus as their Lord!  Yet so many refuse to do so, even after hearing the Gospel, the Good News.  Why?  Why, oh God, are they so stubborn?  Why can they not see what we see?

A humble manger served our Lord as His crib when He entered our world.  A humble, rugged cross carried His mortal body to death.  But we all know that was not the end of the story.  Our Lord’s journey from a manger to the cross tells of our forgiveness and redemption.  His resurrection tells of our being raised again once this life is finished, so that we will have eternal life in heaven.  But that’s our story for Easter.

For now, let’s remember how the journey began, there in a manger, in a stable.  Let’s join those wise men who held what we might call the very first Christian worship service.  Let’s follow the example Jesus set by living our lives humbly, in service to our Lord.  And let’s try to get others to listen and grasp just what Jesus did for them, and why He did it.

This is the love of God, the love of Jesus.  And this is the perfect time to share that love.  For Jesus went from a humble manger to the cross just for us, for all of us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, our Savior, the one true Son of God, the world’s only hope.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, it is so hard for us to understand why You love us enough that You would send Your only Son to serve as our blood sacrifice so we can be forgiven of our sin.  Thank You, Father, for loving us this much, for so great a gift!  We know there are many people who just don’t believe themselves to be worthy of that love.  And truly, Father, none of us are worthy, which is why Your love is even more remarkable.  Please, Father, help us reach out to those who do not believe.  Help us show them Your love through our humble service.  May they see You in our hearts.

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

Lord Jesus, how wonderful it would have been to sit among the shepherds that night when God’s angel suddenly appeared before them, announcing Your birth!  But in spite of that grand proclamation, Your birthplace was so humble.  Indeed, Your entire life on earth was lived humbly, right up to the cross.  Please, Lord, help us learn from Your life.  Help us to follow Your example.  And help us explain to others why You did all this, and how little is truly required of us to benefit from Your sacrifice.  Forgive us, Jesus, when we are too timid, or shy, or afraid to share the Gospel with this non-believing world.  Help us show them Your love in our love and service.  Give us Your heart for loving them.  Let us be Your hands to reach out and help them.  Strengthen us, Jesus, through these very difficult times.  And Lord, please heal those hurts that separate and divide us, even within Your church family.  Help us remain true and obedient no matter what we go through.  May our focus be more on the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Joy to the World!

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the 4th Sunday in Advent, the 20th of December, 2020, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

This morning is the 4th Sunday in Advent.  Today we lit the candle of joy for the joy that Jesus brings to all believers, the joy declared for all the earth if people would only accept the Son of God.  But joy in this world is usually rather short-lived.  It takes so little to rob us of any joy we might feel.  Our joy can be stripped away with a simple careless word or thoughtless deed.  But the joy that comes from truly accepting Jesus, the joy of knowing that our salvation is secured by His blood, can never be taken from us.  This is the message proclaimed to us at Christ’s birth, a message of great joy.

Our scripture reading this morning is very familiar, and one you’ll hear again. But for this reading I chose a version that provides a slightly different, and perhaps more significant, spin on the message given to the world.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Luke recorded for us in the 2nd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 8 through 14, and I’ll be reading this from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior — yes, the Messiah, the Lord — has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others — the armies of heaven — praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,

and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

--Luke 2:8-14 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for sending Your angel to bring us such wonderful news!  You sent Your Son to us, the Messiah, our Savior.  This is our joy - knowing Christ - and it can never be taken from us.  Thank You, Father, for offering us eternal life with You.  Thank You for Your peace and the joy and the assurance of our hope being in You and You alone.  Help us to be more pleasing in Your sight, Father.  And please protect us from all of Satan’s traps and his forces of evil at work in this world.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us for this day.  May we spend this time together rejoicing in our love of You and our salvation.  This we pray under the blood and in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Did you know that “Joy to the World” was not written as a Christmas carol?  In its original form, it had nothing to do with Christmas.  It wasn’t even written to be a song.

Isaac Watts was one of the great hymn writers in church history, and perhaps nothing shows that better than the fact that he wrote one of his most famous hymns by accident.  In 1719, Watts published a book of poems in which each poem was based on a psalm.  But rather than just translate the original Old Testament texts, he adjusted them to refer more explicitly to the work of Jesus as it had been revealed in the New Testament.

One of those poems was an adaptation of Psalm 98.  Watts interpreted this psalm as a celebration of Jesus’s role as King of both his church and the whole world.  More than a century later, the second half of this poem was slightly adapted and set to music to give us what has become one of the most famous of all Christmas carols: "Joy to the World".  And the rest, as they say, is history.

I would normally read this morning’s passage of Luke’s Gospel from the King James or New King James Versions where it ends with the angels singing, “and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”.  But in the New Living Translation, the angels proclaim “peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased”.

Now we know that God wants peace on this earth.  He created the world to be peaceful and it was, until sin entered in.  He also wants the whole earth to accept His Son as Lord, but He knows too many will never do so.  However those who do accept Jesus will receive everlasting peace, and that is indeed pleasing to God.

And this is the message of great joy that the angel shared so long ago.  He appeared among the most lowly of people, the shepherds, out in the fields with their sheep.  He brought the best news ever given to mankind, there to the most humble.

The angel spoke of great joy to all men.  Some very wise men traveled a great distance to experience this joy first-hand.  But first they had to talk with King Herod, who wanted to eliminate any threat to his rule.  Listen to what the Apostle Matthew recorded in the 2nd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 7 through 11…

7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” 

9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

--Matthew 2:7-11 (NKJV)

The wise men first had to get past Herod, who tried to fool them into giving up the location where the Christ Child could be found, and slain.  When they left Herod, they once again saw the star that had guided them to this place, the star that now stood guard over the place where Jesus lay.  Just seeing the star filled them with great joy, and when they finally came into the house and into the presence of Jesus, they fell down and worshiped Him.

And their gifts…  Gold, a gift befitting an earthly king.  Frankincense, incense used frequently in meditation and in praying to God.  Myrrh, an embalming oil used most often for royalty.  Even at His birth, Jesus’ divinity was recognized and His sacrifice and death were foretold.

Now let’s fast forward to a time very close to the cross.  Jesus is in deep prayer with His Father in heaven, praying a little for Himself and a lot for His disciples and for all believers.  Listen to one part of our Lord’s prayer to our Father God, as recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel account, chapter 17 verse 13…

13 “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”

--John 17:13 (NKJV)

God, through His angels, proclaimed peace on earth to those in whom He is pleased, who believe in His Son.  Jesus, while still alive in this world, knowing His time of sacrifice grew near, prayed that we might have His joy!  He knew His sacrifice would finish His business on earth, and thus complete His joy at serving the Father faithfully and fully.  And He wanted for us to be able to partake of that joy as well.  But that joy will only be granted to those who faithfully and fully serve our Lord.

This is how we please God.  And this is how we receive His joy and peace.  Believe in Jesus as the Son of God.  Accept Him as Lord.  Love Him with all our heart and soul and mind.  Love others and help them come to know Jesus, too.  For Jesus came to save us all.

This is the Gospel, the Good News of great joy!  Joy to the world, our Lord has come!  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, our Savior, the one true Son of God, the Joy of this world.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, Your word inspires us.  Just like when Isaac Watts took the 98th Psalm and made it into a poem praising Your Son, and it became one of our beloved songs to sing as we celebrate Your Son’s birth.  Thank You, Father, for Your word.  Thank You for our bible and all that it contains.  Please help us spend more time in it, learning from it, understanding from the examples it provides what You see as the most important things for us to do with our lives.  Thank You most of all for sending Your Son to offer us salvation.  Help us to show and to share Jesus and His love with those who do not know Him.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You straight from our hearts, promising to repent of our sinful ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You gave up Your throne in heaven and came to earth, not as a conquering hero but as one of us, as a tiny baby – humble, innocent, vulnerable.  You lived among us, teaching us by Your word and Your example how we should live in service to God.  Please help us to better follow Your example.  Help us to fully understand why You had to suffer and die upon that cruel cross, and just what Your death and resurrection mean to us personally, we who follow Your voice.  Forgive us, Jesus, when our faith falters because of the troubles of these days.  Help us to more faithfully serve You.  Give us Your heart for loving others.  Give us Your eyes for seeing their hearts.  Strengthen us, Jesus, through these very difficult times.  And Lord, please heal those hurts that separate and divide us, even within Your church family.  Help us remain true and obedient no matter what we go through.  May our focus be more on the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.