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Monday, December 16, 2024
Monday, December 9, 2024
Monday, December 2, 2024
Watchman, What Do You See?: Isaiah 21, Matthew 24:27-31, 42
As
you know, there are different roles within the body of Christ. One of those roles is to be a watchman. It is a particular calling given to different
people. It is part of the role of prophet. The watchman’s job is to warn people about
the coming judgment so that they might repent and turn to the Lord before it is
too late. We see the role of the
watchman in our Old Testament reading this morning. That being said, it is the job of all of us
to keep watch for ourselves. Jesus told
us to keep watch for His coming. We hear
that in our New Testament reading today.
Keeping watch for ourselves doesn’t mean that we have no role in the
lives of others. All of us are called to
admonish one another as brothers and sisters in Christ so that we help one
another to turn from sin and live holy and righteous lives.
Once again in Isaiah, we have
judgments of the nations. This time in
Isaiah 21 there are multiple short judgments against many nations—Babylon,
Edom, and Arabia, and in describing the judgment of Babylon, a warning for
Judea. We took a deep dive into the fall
of Babylon when we looked at Isaiah 13 and Revelation 17-18. We saw that the fall of Babylon was mourned
by those whose livelihoods were enmeshed in that worldly, unjust economic system,
but that it was celebrated by the saints in heaven, those who had been
persecuted. Here, Isaiah is terrified
over the judgment of Babylon. Why,
because they are continuing in their eating and drinking unaware of the
destruction about to befall them. We saw
In Isaiah 13 that even though the word “watchman” wasn’t used, Isaiah acted as
a watchman for them. He warned them of
the coming judgment, but now he sees that the time from them to repent has come
to an end and they did not. They are
continuing in their partying. The
Babylonian destruction comes suddenly out of nowhere. We saw when we looked at Babylon before that
this sudden judgement did come to pass exactly that way when in the middle of a
party, King Belshazzar’s kingdom was stripped away. Now the Lord calls Isaiah to appoint a
watchman. This watchman does not seem to
be appointed for Babylon, since the riders are coming from there but for
Judah. Judah is not named in the text
but is described as “my threshed and son of the threshing floor.” The word threshed is in the feminine
singular, while son of the threshing floor is masculine singular. The watchman is doing his job on the wall,
and nothing seems to be happening, when suddenly he sees a troop of riders with
the horsemen riding in pairs and one calls out “Fallen, fallen is
Babylon.” The watchman seems distressed
because he knows the people are unprepared.
He has tried to tell them what he has heard from Yahweh of the Armies
and to tell them about the God of Israel.
He directs his prayer to the Lord, telling the Lord that he is doing his
job. The destruction of Babylon should
be good news to an afflicted people. Both
Isaiah and the appointed watchman are distressed over the coming destruction of
people who are in rebellion against God.
Do we feel the same the way? Do
we even care enough about others to warn them of what will happen to them if
they continue to reject the Lord?
Our reading from Matthew speaks of Christ’s second coming as also sudden and coming seemingly out of nowhere. We don’t know when it will be other than “after the tribulation.” And in verse 14, which we didn’t read, Jesus speaks of the gospel first being preached to all the nations before the end will come. Since it seems as if the world cycles through periods of great tribulation, we may or may not recognize when we are in the final one, so we are called to be alert, to keep watch, because we don’t know when the Son of Man will return. Jesus does not want us to be caught off guard by His coming. We may be surprised, but it should be a joyful surprise, fulfilling our hope for His return. If we are prepared, we can look forward to His coming. Jesus repeats this command in the next chapter Matthew 25:13 at the end of the parable of the 10 virgins. We are to keep watch, to always be prepared for the coming of Christ. The apostle Paul also talks about this in I Thessalonians 5:1-11
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
We are to encourage one another to live the way Paul exhorts us to, and we are to continue to share the gospel with those who have yet to hear. We know this from what Peter says about the Lord’s sudden coming accompanied with sudden destruction in II Peter 3:9-13.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking
We hear that the Lord doesn’t want anyone to
perish, and that’s part of the reason He hasn’t returned yet. By the way, don’t take it for granted that
someone as heard. We will see this with
the judgment of the Arabs. Both Peter
and Paul speak of Christ’s return as something to which we should look forward
with hopeful anticipation, not something to be dreaded. The world may be afraid when Christ returns,
but we should not.
Next we see the judgment of
Edom. Here Isaiah is the watchman. The Edomites are the descendants of Esau. This time Isaiah is the watchman on the wall who
sees the coming destruction. This destruction
will be ongoing. In Isaiah 21:11 The
watchman is asked what does he see. He
replies, “Morning comes, but also the night.”
There is a reprieve, but trouble will come again. Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping lasts for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.” For Edom,
joy would come in the morning, but the weeping in the night was going to
return. Then the watchman says, “If you
would ask, ask, come back again.” We
tend to hear that is someone continually checking on the status by asking the
watchman what’s going on. The watchman
is the one speaking. He could be
speaking like, “I don’t know why you keep asking; the news isn’t any different
or getting any better.” Or it could be
taken like, “If you want to ask again later, return, and come back to see if anything
has changed.” The Hebrew has 3 verbs—“If
you want to ask, ask (a command) return or go back, which can also be
interpreted “repent”, and then come.” This
is actually an invitation for those facing destruction to ask for help, like
the Moabites were invited to as we hear last week, repent, change your ways,
and then come back again. Rev. Samuel
Lindsay connects this passage to the death of Jesus. Remember that the Herods were Edomites who
practiced Judaism. The morning came for
the Jews. Jesus is the morning, but
Herod the Great first tried to kill Jesus, and then Herod Antipas was also
partly responsible for the death of Jesus.
The Herods continued to reject the gospel. Agrippa I was responsible for the persecution
of the church and ended up dying from parasites. Agrippa II also rejected the Lord. Paul preached the gospel to him on multiple
occasions, but he ended up not believing and sending Paul to Rome. He was the last Herod. The Herods could have embraced Jesus, but
instead, they rejected the light, and so further darkness would come upon them. Like the Moabites we heard about last week,
the Edomites quickly ceased to become a distinct people. There are no Edomites today.
The watchman’s job is to tell people what’s coming. If he doesn’t do his job, he is at fault for the people being unprepared. We see this in Ezekiel 33:3-6.
[If the watchman] sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’
The watchman cannot make people do the right
thing, but it is his job to warn the people about looming danger. In this chapter, Isaiah acts as a very
concerned watchman as he sees destruction coming. He isn’t worried for himself, but for those
on whom judgment is coming. He isn’t
worried for himself because the judgment doesn’t apply to him. He is in right standing with the Lord.
The final judgment in Isaiah 21 is
upon Arabia. There is no watchman to
look out for them but they are warned by Isaiah. The warriors of Arabia will quickly be
reduced to a few.
As watchmen, we are called to keep watch
for Christ’s return. As we do so, we are
to watch out for ourselves. Watching for
Jesus doesn’t mean standing around looking at the sky, nor does it mean merely
observing signs of doom and impending doom.
It means, as we heard from Jesus, Peter, and Paul to watch our own
lives, to make sure we are doing that which we want Jesus to catch us doing when
He returns. It also means looking out
for our brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage them in godly living. Some of us are called to be watchmen for
those who do not yet know Christ, to warn those who have rejected Jesus to come
to repentance before it is too late. Today’s
Advent word is hope. It’s easy to see
destruction and looming destruction in our world, but there is also hope. Remember that judgment is justice. While the Day of Judgment is a day of terror
for those who do have rejected Christ, for those who know Him, it is the
fulfillment of hope when sin and evil will be vanquished fully, finally,
forever. In her poem, “A Day is Surely
Coming,” Valerie Bridgman writes:
A day, certain and on its way
And we feel it approaching
Slowly first, then in a quickened pace
Like a promise, on its way
To being fulfilled
A day when justice and righteousness
Is executed as surely as the day breaks Sun
shines, rain falls, fog gathers
At foothills.
Friday, November 29, 2024
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Monday, November 11, 2024
Thursday, October 31, 2024
The Devil is Defeated!; Isaiah 27:1, Rev. 20:1-10
On
Reformation, it is customary to sing Martin Luther’s most famous hymn, “A
Mighty Fortress” as we have done. The
second half of verses 3 and 4 go with our texts today, “The prince of darkness
grim—we tremble not for him. His rage we
can endure, for lo, his doom is sure.
One little word shall fell him.”
That one word Is Jesus, whose kingdom is forever. Today we hear that the devil is defeated, and
is defeated soundly by Jesus Christ.
The opening of our Isaiah texts
talks about the defeat of leviathan. Leviathan
is described as a fleeing and twisted serpent and a dragon. In Canaanite mythology, leviathan was a sea
serpent. Leviathan represents the
enemies of God, but leviathan also represents Satan. This we see in our Revelation passage. In verse 2, we learn that the dragon, the
serpent of old IS the devil and Satan.
The abyss was believed in Jewish mythology to be at the bottom of the
sea. In Rev. 20, we see an angel coming
out of heaven with the key to the abyss and a great chain who binds Satan and
throws him into the abyss for 1000 years.
This angel is either Jesus Himself or it is an angel who has received
the key from Jesus, whom we know holds the keys. During this time, Satan is unable to deceive
the nations. Historic amillennialism,
the majority view of the Church around the world and the view held by most of
the early church fathers, teaches that this has already occurred and occurred
at the cross. There’s a wonderful scene
in the Passion of the Christ movie that shows Satan gloating as Jesus is being
crucified, but the moment Jesus says, “It is finished,” and dies, the temple
veil is torn and it cuts to Satan in chains screaming angrily at the bottom of
the abyss. Scripture that speaks to the
devil being defeated already include Hebrews 2:14-15, which says, “Sine then
the children [that is God’s children] share in the blood and flesh, He Himself
[that is Jesus] likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might
render powerless him who had the power of the death, that is the devil, and
might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their
lives. Just before His death, Jesus said
in John 12:31, “Now judgement is upon the world; now the ruler of this world
will be cast out.” And in John 16:11, Jesus says, “…the ruler of this world has
been judged.” In Colossians 2:15, Paul
talks about the evil spiritual forces being conquered in the past tense and
from verse 14, we know this happened at the cross. “having cancelled out the certificate of debt
consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us and he has taken it
out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public
display of them, having triumphed over them through it.”
Satan being in the abyss though does
not mean Satan is without influence in the world. We are told to resist the devil and flee from
him. We are supposed to be on guard
against the devil. But Satan cannot act
without permission from God. Still if Satan is bound why do we so much evil in
the world? Our Revelation text says that
at the end of the 1000 years, Satan will be released to gather the nations
against Christ. He will accomplish that,
but they will be unsuccessful and will be destroyed with Satan being cast into
the lake of fire. Then the “rest of the
dead” will be raised and judged. Is it
possible the 1000 years has ended and we are in the last days when Satan has
been freed to gather people against Christ?
Possibly. Could it be the fault
of the Church—that we have been lazy with Christ’s mandate to expand the
kingdom? Is it our fault for not living
and proclaiming the gospel, for failing to love our neighbors? For not believing in the power of God at work
within us?
There is a day when Satan is
destroyed. Isaiah 27:1 says the Lord
will kill the dragon. Rev. 20:10 says,
“the devil who deceived the nations was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and
night forever and ever.” This is the end
of Satan. When will it be? Our Isaiah text says, “In that day.” “That day” is the day of Christ’s
return. It is the same as the Day of the
Lord. We know this is so because of the
end of chapter 26. 26:21 says “Yahweh is
about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity.” The Lord is coming to
earth to judge the living and the dead, as we confess in the creeds.
The other historic view, called historic
premillennialism, is that Satan will be thrown into the abyss when Christ
returns. Rev. 20 is the only passage
that talks about a 1000 year reign of Christ with Satan being in the abyss on
one side of it and being cast into the lake of fire on the other side of
it. It also has 2 resurrections, the
dead in Christ being raised at the beginning the 1000 year and the rest of the
dead being raised at the end of it. Again,
the 1000 years is not necessarily meant to be taken literally. This view says that when Christ returns, the
dead in Christ rise first and reign with living believers for a time. This view takes into account verses like I
Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet shall
sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed.” And I Thessalonians 4:16-17,
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first. Then we who are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to mee the Lord in the air,
and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
After that time Satan will be
released to see if he can deceive the nations and rally them against the saints
on earth, and the “beloved city”—Jerusalem, which represents the people of God,
but they will be consumed with fire from heaven before being able to do
anything. The part of Revelation 20 that
we didn’t read talks about the resurrection of everyone who are judged
according to their deeds, with anyone whose name not being written in the
Lamb’s Book of Life also being cast into the lake of fire.
While it’s hard to make sense sometimes
of the amillennial view, it’s also hard to make sense of this view of 2
separate physical resurrections of the dead.
In the part of Rev. 20 which we didn’t read. We read of 1 resurrection where believers and
unbelievers are separated. These verse sounds a lot like what Jesus Himself
talks about in Matthew 25, when He will return with His angels at the end of
the age to separate the sheep from the goats. Amillenialism teaches that the first
resurrection of the believers happens when we are baptized, and there are many
Scriptures to support this. Ephesians
2:5-7 READ. Colossians 2:12, “Having been buried with Him in
baptism, in which you were also raised u with Him through faith in the working
of God who raised Him from the dead.”
Colossians 3:1-2, “If then you have been raised up with Christ, see
those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of
God. Be intent on things above, not on
things that are on the earth.” Romans
6:4, “therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in
order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life.”
And there are other verses. We
are those who are blessed for we have participated in the first
resurrection. There is a resurrection to
come, when we will receive our glorified, imperishable bodies. But even now, we have new and eternal life in
Christ.
We know that Christ is reigning now and
has been since His ascension into heaven.
I Corinthians 15 talks about the reign of Christ. READ I Corinthians
15:25-28. And the saints will reign
with Christ. This role is especially
given to the disciples and patriarchs and to those who endure persecution, the
martyrs. But also for all who persevere
in the faith to the end of their lives.
In Rev. 3:21, Jesus gives this promise to the believers in
Laodicea: “The one who overcomes, I will
grant to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My
Father on His throne.” Paul quotes from
a piece of church liturgy in II Timothy 2:11-12, “For if we died with Him, we
shall also live with Him. If we endure,
we shall also reign with Him.” This
promise of reigning with Christ is found in the Old Testament as well. Daniel 7:27 says, “Then the kingdom,
(sovereignty), the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole
heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom,
and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.”
I Corinthians 6:2-3 says, “Do you not know that the saints will judge
the world? And if the world is judged by
you, are you not competent to try the trivial cases? Do you not know that we shall judge
angels?”
It’s easy to get discouraged. We see the Church in decline in the western
world. We see our society becoming more
and more corrupt. We see human life
denigrated. We see evil called good and
good called evil. It looks like Satan is
gaining ground, but it’s a lie. It’s a
lie that he wants us to believe. We are
not defeated! We are raised with
Christ. We are more than conquerors. Just before Jesus died, in John 14:30, He
said the ruler of this world, (the devil) has nothing in Him. That is, had no power over Him. The devil was already powerless against
Jesus. Jesus wasn’t going to give the
devil the attention he desired. We have
Christ in us and we don’t have to give the devil a foothold in our lives
either. He can be powerless against
us. We can resist the devil, and he will
flee from us.
Every time someone comes to Christ, the Church
is advancing. The Church IS
advancing. Funny enough, it’s advancing
most clearly and stridently in some of the places where it’s hardest to even be
a Christian. It’s advancing where it is
illegal to own a Bible. Maybe it’s going to take some persecution for us to
realize that Jesus was serious about the Great Commission. The Church is
advancing where people lose their lives for declaring Jesus is Lord! And despite what it looks like, the church is
growing here in our community. There are
people being delivered from addiction.
The hungry are being fed. People
are coming to Christ. Baptisms are
happening. Disciples are being raised
up. There is a new small church
movement, called dinner church, in the US where the church is advancing. People are coming to Christ, being delivered
from bondage, and being discipled. If
each of us just leads 2 people to Christ and helps them to grow as disciples,
the Kingdom of God will grow exponentially.
Many of you have done this through the raising of your children. It doesn’t mean we have to stop with 2! Don’t be deceived—Satan is on a tight
leash. He cannot act without seeking
permission. One day, he will be cast
into the lake of fire. We are commanded
not to give the devil a stronghold.
Jesus has not abandoned us and has given us all the tools we need to
push back the darkness. God’s promise to
bring all of His people into His kingdom is one that cannot and will not
fail.
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Spoiled Dinner; Luke 22:14-24
This was an interactive service.
What
are some of your favorite memories around food?.....Do you have bad memories
around food?....Today on this World Communion Sunday, we read the story of the
Last Supper from Luke’s gospel. This is
the most important meal for Christians—more important than the feedings of the
5000+ and the 4000+, more important than the meal where the sinful woman washed
Jesus’s feet, more important than His meals with the tax collectors and
sinners, more important His meals with Pharisees, or at Zaccheaus’s house. It is more important, because Jesus told us
to continue celebrating it in remembrance of Him. But this Last Supper is more than just a
memorial service. Christ gives Himself
to us and unites us with all other believers, which is why it is the most
important supper.
The Last Supper was a celebration of
the Passover. It would have been a big
deal for any Jewish family. Jesus was
joyfully anticipating this dinner. Our
passage begins with Jesus telling the disciples how much he has been looking
forward and longing to share this Passover meal with them. It should have been the perfect dinner, but
it wasn’t. What was supposed to be a
joyful celebration had some moments that could have spoiled it.
First is the fact that Jesus clearly
says, it’s His last Passover meal for a while.
He says, “until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” Now that’s not bad news! We don’t know when that will be, and neither
did the disciples. It could be very
soon! And it is definitely something
worth anticipating! But He also says
that before that happens, He is going to suffer. This shouldn’t have been a surprise to the
disciples. Jesus had been talking about
it constantly on His way to Jerusalem.
We heard Him mention it many times last spring. There is sadness even knowing that it was
going to happen, and yet, we know how necessary it was for Christ to suffer, so
that all people might be forgiven of their sin and have eternal life. Still even Jesus’s impending death didn’t
have to spoil the dinner. Like having a
last celebration with someone you know is terminally ill, it’s bittersweet, but
you strive to make it be a great memory for all involved. And Jesus Himself made it special by giving
new meaning to the afikomen and the cup of redemption and the cup of joy. It’s certainly something neither they nor we
can forget. Jesus is the fulfillment of
Passover being broken for us, spilling His blood for our salvation, that we
might have eternal joy.
But then Jesus says the one sitting
next to Him will betray Him. There is
someone at the dinner table who plans to spoil the evening. This starts a conversation among the disciples. They start wondering which of them will do
it, even though Jesus made it pretty clear—the one whose hand is with Mine on
the table. The one who dips with Me, in
the other gospels. The others are
clueless and start speculating about each other. This speculating turns into a full-blown
argument. Like children, they start arguing over who is the best. Anybody in here have to deal with family
fighting at the dinner table? It can
certainly ruin a meal! Jesus uses it as
a teaching moment. He points out that He
is the greatest, and yet, He comes to them as a servant, not as
patronizing. He encourages them to be
like Him, servants to one another. And
yet, He also tells them that they are all going to be great. He commends them for standing by Him in His
trials, thus far, even though they were all going to run away, except John, and
tells them that they would inherit the Kingdom of God and inherit thrones in
that Kingdom, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Those who are spoiling what
should have been the perfect dinner, will in the end be rewarded, not for what
they did here, but because they have been chosen by Christ to take the gospel
to the world. Jesus turns the
conversation back to the kingdom redeeming the spoiled dinner.
But the dinner isn’t over yet. There’s one more spoiler. Jesus looks across to Simon Peter that Satan
has asked permission to sift him like wheat.
Peter is incredulous saying he vows to follow Jesus to prison and death.
Jesus tells Peter that Peter is doing to deny Him that very night, not once,
but 3 times. Yet even as Jesus gives this disturbing news, He tells Peter that
He has prayed for Peter that his faith will not fail. We can trust that when our faith is weak,
Jesus has prayed for us. When we know
others who are struggling with their faith, tempted to deny the Lord, we should
pray for them, trusting that God, will in God’s perfect timing, restore them as
well. Jesus promises despite all that
Peter will do, that he will have a job to do once he repents, which is to
strengthen his brother disciples. Peter
will in the end, be the strong one. It’s
often those who have reached rock bottom and come out of it who are best suited
to help others, whether it be those who are recovered and recovering addicts to
help other addicts, the formerly incarcerated who make the best mentors for
those headed down into a life of crime.
Peter understood after denying Jesus 3 times how much he had received
forgiveness, and so he boldly proclaimed forgiveness in Christ to anyone he
could.
The Last Supper should have been the
perfect dinner with everyone getting along and celebrating, but it had many
spoilers. And yet, it was the perfect
supper. Nothing was a surprise to
Jesus. Not even Satan could ruin this
meal. Jesus used every potential spoiled
moment to teach something about Himself, about the Kingdom of God, and about
the disciples. We can remember this when
our dinners don’t go so well, to give and receive grace to ourselves and to
those around our table, to teach and to learn.
The disciples continued the practice of table fellowship among believers
and promoted in all the churches as Christ instituted, and so we do today. We remember Jesus in this meal. We remember what that Jesus died for us, that
He is the Passover lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, who death sets
us free from the law of sin and death.
We remember that He is our salvation.
We remember that we are inheritors of the Kingdom of God. We remember that Christ has taken people who
were not family and made them into God’s family with God as our Father and
Christ as our Brother. We are brothers
and sisters, called to serve one another in love. Under Christ’s new covenant we are called to
bless the world, just as God promised Abraham that He would bless all the
peoples through Abraham.
The table is still a sacred space,
not just the Communion Table, but whenever believers are gathered, when
believers are gathered with unbelievers.
Whenever we gather for a meal—in our homes, in restaurants, at church,
on a picnic we can remember Christ and invite Him to our tables as He invites
us to His. Even when things don’t go
perfectly, Christ is in our midst and can do His holy work.
Monday, September 30, 2024
The Earth is Judged; Isaiah24-25:5, Revelation 6-7
We
have come to the end of a judgement cycle in Isaiah. We have heard lots of judgements over the
summer, but remember that every single one has also come with hope and a
promise of restoration and salvation after the time of judgment and even during
the time of judgment in some cases. This
final judgement is the judgement of the whole earth.
A couple of weeks ago, we heard
about the church in Philadelphia whom Jesus promised to spare from an even
greater “hour of testing” that was to come upon the whole earth, because they
had already faithfully endured much persecution in which many members had lost
their lives. We hear in the text that
there will be those who are unaffected by the coming judgment, but it’s going
to be overall devastating for the world.
It doesn’t matter what one’s social status or class is. Isaiah tells us that the Lord has said that
the earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled.
Why is God going to judge the
earth? For many of the same reasons God
said that He would judge certain nations, but moreso because the evil is so
widespread. In Isaiah 24:5, God gives
the reason, people have “transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broke the
everlasting covenant.”
What will happen when God judges the
earth? Both Isaiah and Revelation talk
about earthquakes. Both talk about the
heavens being shaken and the sun and moon being darkened. Isaiah says that the host of heaven will be
punished along with the earthly rulers.
These are the spiritual forces whom Isaiah says will be confined. We also see this in the book of Revelation,
though not in our passages today. Alcohol
will not bring pleasure but will be sought as a way to escape, but it will not
work. Partying will stop. People will hide and try to escape
suffering. Our Revelation passage speaks
of war, pestilence, famine, and attacks by wild animals. It also talks about food being incredibly
expensive. Death and Hades are given
the authority to take 25% of the human population.
Isaiah mentions a city that will be
destroyed in this prophecy. The word
used to describe is “wasted, confused, chaos.”
It is the exact Hebrew word used to describe the earth in Genesis 1:2.
It is disordered. When we refuse God’s
order, the result is disorder and chaos.
The city is not named as cities in the other judgements were. What is this city? Is it a city that was unknown at the time,
like Beirut, Moscow, or Washington, DC?
Is it Jerusalem? It is a city
that represents the whole world. Whatever
this city is, it will be destroyed never to be rebuilt. So yes, Jerusalem in a sense spiritually,
even if not literally. We have seen Paul
in Galatians b4 talk about the Jerusalem that now is and the Jerusalem that is
above, the heavenly city. He tells us
that the earthly Jerusalem is like Hagar, a city that is in slavery, but that
the heavenly Jerusalem is free like Sarah.
St. Augustine in his great book, The City of God, describes the
same thing. He says that there exists
the City of God and the City of Man.
Both Paul and Augustine say that these cities exist in the present
tense. They are systems. God’s people belong to the City of God, and
if they aren’t living like it, they are called to come out of the City of Man,
the earthly Jerusalem. Whatever our
feelings about even the physically real city of Jerusalem, it is not meant to
stand forever. We hate to think of our
heritage being destroyed, but in the end, it will be completely unnecessary
when the New Jerusalem descends from heaven and replaces it. Until it does, it already exists, and we are
called to live like it exists and that we are its citizens, for indeed we are!
This great judgment that is to come
is referred to as the Tribulation, the great trouble. We see this in our Revelation passage, that
those around the throne of God dressed in white robes and singing praise to the
Lord, a multitude that no one can count from every people group on the planet
are those “who come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Popular Bible teaching says God’s people aren’t going to have to endure
the tribulation, but that’s not what Revelation 7 says nor is it what any early
church father taught. Tribulation is to
be endured and persevered through with God’s help, not escaped. What the early church father did differ on is
whether the 1000-year reign of Christ is metaphorical or whether there will be
a post tribulation literal reign of Christ on earth between the resurrection of
believers and the resurrection of the condemned. I personally find myself waffling between
those two positions. God warns us about
it, not so that we will be afraid, but so that we will be prepared.
There have been many great
tribulations throughout history. I think
this is one of the reasons that the disciples expected Christ to return. They
always spoke of Jesus’s return during times of intense persecution, but there
is still a great tribulation to come. Are
we on the threshold of it? Maybe. There are many who think so with the collapse
of western civilization, with WWIII about to start and the great threat of
nuclear war and the escalation of violence in the Middle East. We certainly see vast numbers of people
breaking and disregarding God’s laws and even natural law. We see people calling evil good and good
evil. Whether God is going to send a
lesser or the final tribulation upon us soon, only God knows, but after the
final tribulation, Christ will return and reign. We see in Isaiah 24:23, “The Lord of hosts
will reign on Mt. Zion and in Jerusalem and His glory will be before His
elders.”
As he has done in when pronouncing other
judgements, Isaiah weeps over those that do evil. The apostle Paul reminds us that “we wrestle
not with flesh and blood, but with powers, and principalities, and spiritual wickedness
in the high places.” Do we care enough
to mourn over those who do evil and desire to see them set free
spiritually? Do we care enough even
about our neighbors to share the good news of Jesus with them?
Don’t forget that the ending to both
of our passages this morning are positive!
They are full of praise for God’s goodness, power, and triumph and for
the triumph of the people who are faithful to the Lord. In Isaiah’s prophecy, the righteous in the
west shout with joy over the majesty of the LORD. Those in the East sing songs of God’s
glory. Those in the islands praise the
name of the Lord! In our Revelation
passage, before any judgement can even start, the angels are commanded to first
seal up the 144,000. I don’t believe
this is a literal number, but it is the number of completion of Jewish
believers—those who actually come from the 12 tribes named as representatives
of God’s historic people. We should be
praying for the conversion of the Jews.
It’s why the work of organizations like Jews for Jesus is so
important. God will fulfill God’s
promises to them by bringing them into the New Jerusalem. Notice there is no one from the tribe of Dan
or Ephraim. Instead of Ephraim, Joseph is named, and instead of Dan, Manasseh
is named. And then we have the multitude
that no one can count around God’s throne. This multitude will include us and
all believers throughout time, and all who have come out of the Great
Tribulation—that is they survived it, not necessarily by not dying, although therw
will be many who will remain alive, but all who remained faithful to Christ,
enduring to the end. They cry out with a
loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and unto the
Lamb.” The angels join with them, along
with God’s chosen 24 elders (the patriarchs and apostles), worshipping and
saying, “Amen! Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor and power and might be to our God forever
and ever. Amen!” Once the great tribulation
is passed, so comes the end of all hunger, thirst, weather disasters, sorrows
and tears!
I’m not foolish enough to say these
are the end times. I don’t know if the
hurricane that happened is God’s judgment, or simply something God allows via
the natural processes God has ordained, or because of the general fallen state
of humanity. I’m not going to try to say
why any particular thing is happening.
Nor will I try to predict what’s going to happen. Only God the Father knows when the end will
come. Only God knows the particulars of
why God does or allows anything. I do
think we should be prepared for hard and trying times, but we can live with hope
because we know that God wins. Even as
God judges the earth, God does so out of love for people and a hatred for
evil. In his book City of God,
St. Augustine wrote, “Do not refuse to regain your youth in Christ, who says to
you, ‘The world is passing away. The
world is losing its grip. The world is
short of breath.’ Do not fear—your youth shall be renewed as an eagle.”
Monday, September 23, 2024
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Monday, September 2, 2024
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Friday, August 9, 2024
Monday, July 29, 2024
Sunday, July 21, 2024
The Remnant Returns; Isaiah 10:20-34, 11:11-16, Romans 9:14-32
4th of July weekend, Jim
and I went to see the movie Sound of Hope. We recommend it to anyone who has the
opportunity to see it. It’s the true
story of the small, lower income, mostly black community of Possum Trot, TX
that adopted 77 children out of the foster care system in the late 1990’s so
that no children remained in the system for 100 mile radius. The movement to adopt was spearheaded by the
pastor’s wife. Last week, we heard that
God can use anyone or anything as a tool in His toolbox. It doesn’t matter if the person realizes or
even believes in God. It is God who is
the Master Craftsman, and it is God alone who deserves all the honor and glory
for the things He has done. We saw that
when the tool starts bragging and being prideful, sometimes, it gets destroyed
or discarded. God likes to use willing
tools. God likes to use faithful
tools. And there are other particular
tools that God likes to use. We like the
shiny tools, the tools with, as Tim the Toolman Taylor liked to say from the
old sit-com “Home Improvement” used to say, “more power!” But if you watched that show, you remember
that often adding more power resulted in disastrous, albeit comical,
consequences. God uses the little tools,
the ones that aren’t so shiny, the ones that are often overlooked. God uses the small, not the big, the few, not
the many. God uses the remnant.
I remember from my studies in church
history thinking that it is truly a miracle that the church has survived to
this day. Between heresies, schisms, and
persecutions, it seemed as if the church would eventually cease to exist. There are times in history where the Church
has had to go deep underground, meeting in secret, with only handfuls of
believers. Certainly, there are places
in the world that used to be largely Christian that are barely Christian
today. We see the decline of the Church
in our own country. We see certain
branches of the church, including our own denomination, embracing more and more
heresy, looking more and more like the culture around us everyday. And truly, it is a miracle that the Church
has survived. The true church is
miraculous! It is God’s design, with
Jesus as its head. But God has promised
that it would always continue. It can
never be snuffed out. The gates of hell
cannot and will not prevail against it.
In
our Scripture readings today, we see that God does have a remnant. The remnant are the people who remain
faithful to God despite all the craziness around them. Whether in a state of prosperity or
suffering, they remain true, not that they are perfect, because only Jesus is
perfect, but that the arc of their lives is to love, trust, and obey God. In fact, the word return in today’s passage
is the same Hebrew word for repent. To
return is to repent. To repent is to
return to God. The remnant are always
the few, never the majority. In today’s
readings we have two returns of the remnant promised by God. The first return is one has happened, and the
second is yet to come. The first return
happened after the defeat of the Assyrian Emperor Sennacherib sometime after
681 BC. Isaiah said it would be made up
of those who relied on Yahweh, and it would be a relatively small number of
people. Before the return would come
more destruction by Assyria, whom the Lord would ultimately also bring to ruin
because of their pride, as we saw last week.
Things get worse before they better.
Hard things come to test our faith, but we are not left without
hope. God doesn’t want us to be afraid,
just as God didn’t want the people of Isaiah’s day to be afraid. Assyria would threaten, but not defeat Judah.
We don’t need to make alliances with the powers of this world so that our lives
will be easier. We are to trust in God
no matter what. We don’t have to
capitulate to the culture, to go along to get along. We must be true to what God commands, even
though God’s ways are difficult at times, even though the world scoffs at us
and even marginalizes and punishes us for following God.
The apostle Paul saw this first return
as ongoing in his day and beyond as we read in our Romans passage this morning,
where Paul quotes Isaiah 10:22-23 along with some verses from Hosea and other
verses from Isaiah, some of which we have seen before. Paul declares that the remnant is not just
people from Israel or even Israel and Judah, now called “the Jews” in Paul’s
day, but also from among the Gentiles, those who become righteous in Christ by
faith. And Paul says pursing the Law of
righteousness, Israel didn’t attain it because they pursued it by works and not
by faith. One cannot work his/her way
into the kingdom, but must enter by trusting in God. In the Old Testament, we see it was by faith
in who God was—depending on God alone for salvation. In the New Testament, it is depending on God
alone for salvation in Jesus Christ.
The second return will happen when Christ
returns. The people of God from all the
nations will be gathered together. Judah
and Ephraim will be reconciled. God’s people will be brought in from the
farthest reaches of the earth from all the nations. We know this second return is when Christ
returns because of verse 10. Jesus is
the root of Jesse whose resting place is glorious. Note that even though this is a remnant, the
number exceeds the sands on the seashore, just as was promised to Abraham, and
yet it is a remnant. Even to the last,
there will be those who reject God. We
see this in the book of Revelation. Revelation
16:12-16
The sixth angel poured
out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to
prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then
I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of
the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the
mouth of the false prophet. They
are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings
of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great
day of God Almighty. “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is
the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be
shamefully exposed.” Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in
Hebrew is called Armageddon.”
This
passage echoes Isaiah 11:15, “And Yahweh will dry up the tongue of the Sea of
Egypt, the Red Sea, and He will wave His hand over the river (Euphrates) with
His scorching wind, and he will strike it into seven streams, and make people
walk over in sandals—they won’t get their feet wet.” Yahweh is the one who makes it possible not
only for the remnant to return, but also for the rebellious political powers to
gather with their armies. They gather in
Har-Magedon—beneath the mountain of Megiddo prepared for war, but no battle
will actually take place. The victories
brought about through the remnant will be just as improbable as the crossing of
the Red Sea when the Israelites came out of Egypt and Gideon’s defeat of the
Midianites with his 300 men. Neither of
those were accomplished by human effort.
It was God who parted the sea, and it was God who struck the Midianites
with confusion. Ini this final battle, God’s
people will see victory over their enemies, but it won’t happen in a war. Jesus
will destroy them with His Word.
God always has a faithful remnant,
and it is intentional on God’s part. I Corinthians 1:26-31:
Brothers and sisters, think of what you
were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human
standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God
chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose
the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God
chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things
that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so
that no one may boast before him. 30 It is
because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom
from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast
in the Lord.”
God
uses the small, the unassuming, the fragile—those who know most that they must
be dependent upon God, so that God gets the glory. When you start to wonder what difference you
can make, when you start to doubt what God can do through a small church like
ours, know that in God’s economy size, status, and wealth don’t matter. What matters is one’s faithfulness to
God. Do we trust God? Will we walk by faith, and not by sight? Are we humble? Are we characterized by prayer and
repentance? Don’t be discouraged when
you see decline if you are being faithful and you know others who are being
faithful.
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Sunday, July 7, 2024
Monday, July 1, 2024
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Monday, June 10, 2024
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Monday, May 6, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Monday, April 15, 2024
Monday, April 8, 2024
The Benefits of Christ's Sacrifice; Hebrews 9:11-22, Titus 3:4-7
On
this second Sunday of Easter, we celebrate that Christ, though His death and
resurrection has secured our redemption.
Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the new covenant, a covenant not of
dead works, but of love and grace, a covenant which the Holy Spirit applies to
us.
If you remember, a covenant was a
binding agreement that if broken, required the death of the party who broke the
covenant. The “signing” of the covenant
was done by the sacrifice of animals cut in half. The parties agreeing to the covenant would
walk through the carcasses to say, “May it be done to me if I break this
covenant.” When God made the covenant
with Abraham, only God walked through the animal carcasses, showing that God
alone would take on the death penalty for the broken covenant, a covenant which
we broke time and time again. In the Old
Testament, God commanded Moses and Aaron to set up a sacrificial system. This system was the way that the death
penalty for the breaking of God’s commands was met. Animal substitutes were used in place of
people. As animals were sacrificed, the
people were made aware that it should be them who were killed, but even this
was poor, since God already promised Abraham that God alone would take the
death penalty for our sins. We know that
Christ instituted the new or renewed God’s covenant at the Last Supper. He explicitly said that covenant would be
sealed in His blood. The concept of
covenants cut in blood are gross to us, but how often do we consider that
before God, we really deserve the death penalty? For all the times it had been broken and
would be broken again, Jesus paid the price.
He fulfilled the requirement of the covenant that God must die. And because Jesus is also fully human, His
blood covers us. We have taken a lot of the “blood hymns” out of modern
hymnals, but sometimes we need to remember how precious it was that Jesus shed
His blood for us and how powerful that blood is to wash us clean and secure our
redemption. Jesus fulfilled all the
requirements of the covenant by His death and resurrection.
Our Hebrews passage tells that Jesus
acted as both High Priest and Sacrifice.
And not only is He High Priest, He is the perfect sinless High
Priest. Sacrifices already had to be
without blemish or spot, but the High Priest first had to sacrifice for his own
sins before he could offer sacrifices for the people. Jesus is the once for all sacrifice. Sacrifices no longer need to be repeated. Hebrews 9:13 mentions “the ashes of a red
heifer” that was used to sprinkle those who were defiled. There are people who want to restart the
sacrificial system. Many of you are
aware that there are plans to sacrifice a red heifer during Passover in a few
weeks in Israel so that it can be burned and the ashes used to purify people
and instruments to rebuild a temple.
God’s people are the last temple.
We are living stones. Any
Christian participating in this is doing the devil’s work, not the Lord’s
work. Jesus doesn’t need us to help Jewish
zealots set up a sacrificial system.
Jesus needs us to help proclaim that He is the true and only Messiah and
that the time to believe in Him is now! If
you haven’t picked up any of the information on the back table that the Jews
for Jesus missionaries left, I would encourage you to do so. They need our prayers as they witness to the
truth of who Jesus is. Jesus’s blood
paid for our redemption. That is, the
debt we owed to God that we could not pay, Jesus paid it all and did so for
everyone! Jesus died to redeem the
world, not just one people group, but all people. His sacrifice is complete. No others are ever needed again. The Jews cannot be saved by reinstating
temple sacrifices. They can only be
saved by the blood of Jesus, just as we are.
The people living in the most isolated places in the world can only be
saved by the blood of Jesus. Jesus
fulfilled the Law so we don’t have to.
With redemption comes forgiveness. All of our sins are forgiven. Both of our passages today tell us we are
washed clean by the blood of Christ. Our
consciences have been made clear. We
don’t have to continually beat ourselves up for the wrong things we have
done. We simply need to confess what
Jesus has already forgiven. When we lay our burdens at the feet of Jesus, we
don’t need to pick them back up again. We
might be called to make amends to someone we have hurt, but that is living into
the forgiveness which we have been given, which brings us to the next benefit
that Jesus by His sacrifice has given us.
Not only did Jesus redeem us, He
cleanses us from dead works. We don’t
have to try to earn salvation by merit.
We don’t have to worry that we have or haven’t done enough to gain
eternal life and entrance into heaven. Our
Titus passage tells us that our works of righteousness don’t save us, but it is
the mercy of God our Savior who saved us out of love for us. However, it doesn’t mean we don’t do
anything. The rest of Hebrews 11:14 says that Christ freed us from dead works
“to serve the living God.” We can serve
God freely. I think back to the story of
the Prodigal Son. The older brother kept
working for his father, but he resented it.
He was trying to prove something to his father, his worthiness, not
understanding that as a son, he didn’t need to prove anything. He had access to all that the father wanted
to give. In fact, when the younger son
asked for his share of the inheritance, the father divvied up the inheritance
to both sons, of which the older brother would have gotten double. Yet, he never accessed what was his. He kept trying to earn it, and kept building
more and more resentment. God wants us
to serve freely. God did create good
works for us to do. God wants us to
participate with God in God’s work. In
fact, we were saved for service; our salvation is not simply acquiring “fire
insurance” so that we don’t go to hell.
At the same time we don’t have to do works to pay off debt. We serve out of gratitude. This also frees us from worrying about
outcome. When we serve God freely, the
results are up to God. Faithfulness is
the measure of our success. Do you know
that the word “serve” and “worship” are the same word? To worship God is to serve God and to serve
God is to worship God.
Eternal life of course is another
benefit of Christ’s sacrifice. This
means that there will never be a time when we are separated from the presence
of God. It means that physical death is
not the end for us. We will live with
God in a new heaven and earth where time does not exist. We will live where there is no more death,
pain, grief, fear, worry, or evil. We
will live where everyone not only gets along, but really and truly loves one
another.
Another benefit of Christ’s sacrifice is
sanctification. That is, we are made
holy; we are made saints. We have the
capability to become more and more like Jesus, and when God looks at us, God
already sees Jesus in us. Sanctification
means transformation. We are being
remade into the people that God always intended us to be. It takes our cooperation. As people of the Reformed tradition, we call
this the “perseverance of the faith.” We
cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we have all the
blessings that God has promised God’s people.
We joint-heirs with Jesus of all God’s good gifts. We are made siblings of Christ, children of
God by believing in Jesus. We are Christ’s
brothers and sisters as well as His bride.
Speaking of the Holy Spirit, the
Holy Spirit is the greatest blessing we have been given as a result of Christ’s
sacrifice. God gave us Himself through
Jesus Christ, and then God gave us Himself again in the person of the Holy
Spirit, who was sent to us by Christ.
Jesus is God with us—Immanuel.
The Holy Spirit is God in us. The
Holy Spirit gives us full access to all the benefits secured by Christ’s
sacrifice. Without the Holy Spirit, we
would have no faith. We would not be
able to confess Christ. It is the Holy
Spirit who illumines our consciences, who convicts us of sin and opens us to
our need of a Savior. The Holy Spirit
teaches us by helping us to understand God’s Word and applying it to our
lives. It is the Spirit who gives us the
power to resist temptation, who enables us to keep God’s commands, who empowers
us to do good works for the glory of God.
The Holy Spirit reveals the will of God to us. The Holy Spirit is eternal life—the Fountian
of Living Water welling up within us.
The sacrifice of Jesus is
everything. In Him we have redemption--we have no debt to God. We have forgiveness. We don't have to earn salvation through good works, rather we are free to worship and serve God by doing good works for God's glory, leaving the results to God. We are made saints. We have eternal life. We have the Holy Spirit. We are never alone. Jesus has bought our salvation through His precious blood! Amen!
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