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Monday, July 6, 2026
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Coming in Glory; Isaiah 66:18-24, Revelation 21:22-22:5
The Nicene Creed states that Jesus will come again in
glory to judge the living and the dead. The
sure hope of Christ’s return and the promise of being with Him forever in a
world where all wrongs are made right is what helps us to persevere in the
faith. We heard about the perseverance
of the saints a couple of weeks ago. On
this Day of the Christian Martyr, we remember the saints who faithfully
persevered in the faith with the hope of glory in their hearts. Your
bulletin insert today briefly tells the story of Perpetua, who is often named
with her servant, Felicity, who went into the arena with her. We know quite a bit about Perpetua because
she kept a journal while she was in prison awaiting her turn to be
executed. In her journal, Perpetua wrote
about her excitement about what heaven would be like. She felt honored to be a martyr. No one enjoys the pain and suffering of
martyrdom, but we have stories of saints who gave words of encouragement to
others as they faced their earthly demise.
I was reading the story of a living martyr this week, an Iranian brother
who had been arrested and tortured. He
was hung by one leg by a chain and was repeatedly beaten. His captors eventually left him for dead in
the street. Some passers-by took him to
a hospital. The doctors thought he would
lose his way, but with help from the Voice of the Martyrs, he was transferred
to a European hospital. 12 years later,
he still has problems with that leg and has to keep a close eye on it for
infection. But he has returned to his
country and uses that leg to tell of the goodness of God and the power of Jesus
Christ. Scars can be a good conversation
starter. My friends in Japan who visited
us earlier this year we telling in their recent newsletter of missionary
colleagues from another nation where there is civil war and where Christians
are specifically targeted. One couple
has been staying in Japan on as refugees for 2 years so far. They are ministering to other refugees from
their country. Their son, who is in his
20s, is a medic and was committed to treating anyone, regardless of what side of
the conflict they were on. He was
captured by the current government and tortured for months before miraculously
escaping. He is in a neighboring country
on a student visa, but recently came to visit his parents in Japan. Gary and Barbara write, “We briefly saw the scar in the son’s hand
where his captors had nailed it to a desk, saying, “You’re a Christian? Here’s
what happened to Jesus.” But even as he shared stories of torture and injustice
he and his people have experienced, the joy of the Lord and his commitment to
helping the people of his country was evident.”
This family is waiting for the day they can return home and continue to
minister within their own country. The
people in all of these stories are able to face death, not because they are
stronger or better than you or I, but because their hope is in the promise of
being with Jesus face to face in a perfected world forever. They have experienced the goodness of God in
this life and know the difference Jesus has already made in their lives. They know Jesus is worth living and even
dying for.
I was taught that when you are reading various books of
the Bible, you should pay special attention to the opening and closing words of
the book. We have the closing words of
Isaiah today. These words are spoken by
Yahweh Himself. This book has contained
calls to repentance, oracles of judgement, and promises of restoration for
those who do repent. In this last
oracle, we hear the Lord’s promise of the restoration of all things, with the
very last words being a statement of the state of those who have rebelled
against the Lord. They are described as
worm-filled, fiery corpses. It is a
statement that Jesus Himself quotes in a warning when He says in Mark 9:47-48,
“And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is b3etter for you to
enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes and be cast into
Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. It’s a gruesome image, and it is meant to
be. These corpses are, in the final
words of Isaiah, “an abhorrence to all flesh.”
In a way, this is one last call to repentance. This is not how you want to end up! But the main theme of the passage is the
return of the Lord. This judgement
doesn’t happen before the Lord’s return; this is when He will judge the living
and the dead. He already knows all of
our thoughts and works, but He will not gather all the nations to judge them
until He returns. It is clear that
Yahweh and Jesus are the same Being.
This time of judgement is the same language Jesus uses in Matthew 25
when He talks about separating the sheep from the goats. The
Lord has a unique plan for His people when He returns—they will share in His
glory. Our Revelation reading today ends
with the words, “and they shall reign forever and ever.” Earlier in the book of Revelation, we hear
all the angels and saints speaking of Jesus, “King of Kings and Lords of Lords”
who shall reign forever and ever, but when Christ returns, His people will join
Him in that reign.
Yahweh wants the world to see and know His glory and so
the Lord uses survivors from among the nations to go before Him to tell those
who have never heard of His fame nor seen God’s glory to declare the glory of
God to them. Gentile followers of Yahweh
will bring in their offerings to the new Jerusalem just as the Israelites
brought their offerings to the Lord.
Priests and Levites will no longer be just from the Jews. The Levites were the chosen tribe of Israel
from which the priests came. All priests
were Levites, but not all Levites were priests.
The rest of the Levites supported the priests and took care of the
sacred things, the tabernacle, and the temple.
They provided for worship, but didn’t preside over worship. Here God says He is going to choose people
from among the Gentiles to have these roles.
Leading worship will no longer be tied to heredity—not to a single
Jewish tribe and not to Jewish ethnicity at all. The Lord calls and empowers ministers and
evangelists. We read in Paul’s letters
that the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent gives gifts for ministry to each and
every believer and some are called to specific offices within the body as
apostles, pastors, teachers, prophets, and evangelists. The role of deacon is also similar to the
work of the Levites. Who are the
survivors? Those who have faced
persecution. It began with the apostles
who were scattered among the nations because of persecution, and it continues
to this day.
But the day is coming when God will make the new heavens
and the new earth when all people will bow before Him. It will be a world where persecution is
nonexistent, and the leaves of the tree of life will be used for the healing of
the nations. There will be no more
divisions among people. And people will
have perfect unity with God. And all the
nations shall bring their glory, glory that is shared with Jesus. The glory Yahweh has shared with us will be
given back to God.
In Colossians 1:26-27, Paul wrote, “The mystery which has
been hidden from the ages and generations, but how has been manifested to His
saints to whom God has willed to make known what is the riches of this mystery
among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” If we have Christ in us, we already have this
sure hope of glory. Christ is already
with us, so when He returns in glory, we will be glorified with Him and reign
with Him forever. This hope of glory is
what can enable you to endure whatever trials come your way. Until you enter the fullness of glory when
you are raised in glory incorruptible at Christ’s return.
Monday, June 22, 2026
Monday, June 15, 2026
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Monday, May 18, 2026
Monday, May 11, 2026
Sunday, April 26, 2026
Monday, April 13, 2026
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Monday, March 23, 2026
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Friday, March 6, 2026
Consequences for Mistreating Others; Isaiah 47
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This is the first sentence of the second
paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.
We all know and learned these words.
These are the founding words of our country. “All men are created equal” is said to be
self-evident. It means that it is an
observable fact. In other words, we
should be able to look at other human beings and know that they are equal to
us. Did the founders believe this? Some of them probably held this ideal. Others didn’t. They might have thought all women were equal
to each other, but not equal to men.
Some of them held slaves, and so they thought a slave wasn’t a full human
being. We know throughout the world and
throughout history, the equality of humanity has been fought for and fought
over. Each of us wants to be considered
as an equal with others, unless we want to be superior to others. And this is the world we live in, a world
like George Orwell’s Animal Farm, where, as soon as equality starts to
be achieved, one group claims superiority over another, and oppressed and
oppressor starts all over again. So, is
it not true? Are all people not really
created equal? Or is it just not
self-evident that they are? Where does
this idea of human equality come from?
If you look up the word
“equal” in the Bible, the only time it is used for people in regard to one
another is in Psalm 55:13. Psalm 55 is a
lament maskil of David. He is telling
how he has been afflicted and betrayed.
In verse 12-14, David says, “For it is
not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has
exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a
man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship
together, walked in the house of God in the throng. [1]” So because David is calling his friend who
has turned against him “my equal” and is contrasting him to “an enemy,” David
doesn’t consider his enemies his equals.
Things are a little better in the New Testament. In 2 Cor. 8, Paul is reminding the Corinthian
Church that they had pledged to give an offering to help out the persecuted
Christians in Jerusalem. He is
encouraging them to fulfil that pledge.
He gives an example of the Macedonian churches, who gave sacrificially,
even in the midst of their own suffering.
Apparently, the Corinthian Church is a little better off. In verses 13 and 14, he tells them their
ability to give is equal to the need of those who are afflicted and
lacking. In other words, within the
church, we should be sharing our resources to meet the needs of those who are
struggling, but it doesn’t mean everyone needs to have the same amount of
stuff. So if equality isn’t about
everyone having the same stuff and the same amount of stuff, what is it?
We go to the beginning of the
Bible—Genesis 1:26-27 “’Then God
said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our
likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the
birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and
over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God
created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created
them; male and female he created them.”
This is why we believe in the equality of human beings. Every person, whether or not they believe in
God, is created in the image and likeness of God. This gives them dignity and value. This is the
way the early church fathers taught on the equality of persons. We have legal
equality, esp. before God and in regard to the opportunity for salvation. Jesus Himself said, “Whosoever believes in me
has eternal life.” And in the negative
sense, we read in Romans 3 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God.” Paul also writes more than once that before God, everyone is equal. God is no respecter of persons. In Christ, there is no Jew/Greek, slave/free,
male and female—we are all one in Christ.
So what does all
of this have to do with Isaiah 47?
Isaiah 47 is a judgment oracle against Babylon. This oracle is not against an individual, but
against a nation, the Chaldean empire.
Notice that Babylon is called a “virgin daughter.” In Revelation, we see Babylon described as a
whore, but she is not yet. There was a
time when Babylon was no worse than any other nation, but by this time, Babylon
has grown proud. She is already bragging
about her future children. God had sent
His people into exile in Babylon, but the Chaldeans mistreated them. They were also mistreating their own
people. The elderly are mentioned
specifically. They didn’t accept
Yahweh. They rejected the true God. They engaged in sorcery and witchcraft and
oppressed the people with high taxation.
Those in power in the nation were oppressing the people. So now, God is going to humble Babylon
through it being taken over by the Persians.
Cyrus and his army would conquer the Babylonians. And they would also treat God’s people better
than the Babylonians did.
Imagine being in
ancient Babylon as a senior citizen and being oppressed by high taxes and being
mistreated because you were considered of no value…Uh, wait. Maybe it doesn’t take that much imagination. We are not treating people well in this
country. We are rapidly losing the
capacity for civil discourse. The first
response to someone we disagree with is to call them names or attack their
character. We are becoming immune to the
violence around us. Our justice system
is badly broken. Evil people hold
positions of power while minor offenders get harsh sentences. Some people can’t get justice because they
don’t have the money or time to fight for it.
We have 5 decades of killing the most innocent—the unborn. Our tax money goes to make the rich richer
instead of helping the poor and needy.
There are those in government with delusions of grandeur that think we
should be an empire. As a nation, we
have turned our backs on God. And too
often when God’s name is invoked, it is invoked in vain. Church attendance is at an all-time low with
only 40% of people attending any church service once a month or more. Once a month is now considered regular
attendance. Only 22% are weekly
attenders. The never married are the
least likely group to attend worship.
And the majority of people who do attend worship are over 60. How long is it going to be before God says to
the United States of America, “There is none to save you.”?
What can be done
to keep us from going the way of Babylon?
I cannot predict the future, but I know that the prayers of a faithful
man of God changed the course of a nation.
I’m talking about the prophet Daniel.
His prayers and witness led to the salvation of the King of
Babylon—Nebuchadnezzar, and his influence continued when Darius conquered
Babylon. So we can pray for our nation
and its leaders. Also, we need to look
at our own lives. How do we treat other people?
Are we among those who name call and attack others with whom we disagree,
or do we show love and kindness even to those we don’t like? I read in my devotional this week of a
college student in Russia under the Communists who committed to loving and
praying for her classmates. She was
bullied and mistreated, but she continued to respond in love that got the
attention of another young lady who admitted that she wanted to be like
her.
Can we love like that? We
can stand up for justice. We can do this
by making our voices heard. Tuesday is
primary election day if you haven’t voted already. Online petitions get a little attention, but
even better than a petition is writing a personalized email to your congressmen
and even the President’s office. Better
than an email is a mailed, hand-written letter, and most effective is a phone
call. If you get a voice mail, leave
one, but call again. Eventually, you may
get to meet a staffer. You can also set
up an in-person meeting. And we need to
share the gospel with our neighbors. We
need to let people know that Jesus loves them and that His way is better. People aren’t hearing the gospel in church
because they aren’t coming. We have to
take the gospel to them. Our nation has
been on the wrong track for a long time.
God has spared nations in the past because of a faithful remnant, but
even if He does not, God will preserve a remnant.
Monday, February 23, 2026
Sunday, February 15, 2026
Monday, January 26, 2026
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Sunday, January 4, 2026
Going Home Another Way; Matthew 2:1-12
One of the big pieces of local news for December was the opening of the Havelock Bypass. Anyone been on it yet? We went on part of it. It’s definitely been a lot easier to get around town, but this coming week is full school and base traffic, so we’ll really see what kind of difference it makes in traffic patterns. Is Miller going to get busier, like they think? We’ll see. When I travel, I like to take the scenic route when possible, especially if I can avoid the busy parts I-40 and I-95. There are parts of those highways that are so crowded and scary that even going a slower road doesn’t make much difference in time. Whenever I go to Fayetteville, I take backroads, and the difference is at most 5 minutes, but it sure is a lot more peaceful and scenic. Jim’s cousins moved from Raleigh to Wilson. Sometimes we take the interstate way to Wilson, but take the more rural highways home. Again, it’s generally not more than a 5-minute difference, 15 if you get stuck behind the big farm equipment on the two-lane road. In our gospel reading today, we see the wise men needing to go home another way. In the life of our church, we are finding ourselves in a position of needing to go another way and getting ready to embark on that journey.
There are different reasons we find ourselves needing to
go a different way. Sometimes, we are
forced to go a different way because of construction detours. Sometimes, it’s a traffic accident. It may be because of a washed-out road. Sometimes we go a different way for peace and
beauty. Sometimes a different way saves
us time. For the magi, they were
specifically warned in a dream not to return to Herod. We don’t know how many of them had the dream,
but it was probably more than one. We
don’t know what details they got in the dream, but they were convinced not to
go back to tell Herod what they had seen and heard. They didn’t go back through Jerusalem at
all. Because they didn’t go back via
Jerusalem, it bought time for the Holy Family to flee to Egypt, even though it
wasn’t very much time at all. An angel
appeared to Joseph in a dream that night telling him to flee immediately and
take Mary and Jesus to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill the child. They didn’t get much of a head start before
Herod figured it out and made sure all the male babies 2 and under in Bethlehem
were slaughtered. Still, it was enough
time for them to get far enough away to be safe. They stayed in Egypt 3 or 4 years before resettling
in Nazareth. The magi’s going home
another way was a life-saving detour for Jesus.
But I’m sure there were other benefits of the magi going home by another
way. Like the shepherds, I bet they told
people of what they had seen.
We are called this year to go a different way. We are embarking on a new journey as Trinity
Presbyterian Church. Some people in here
are being called to go a different way in their personal lives. 2026 is bringing major changes. Going a different way can be nerve-wracking
as well as exciting. It’s an unfamiliar
road for most of us, and new for all of us.
It is a road we were called to take.
Part of it is life-saving. We
were getting a point of financial insolvency and possible dissolution. We could have reached that point much
sooner. It wasn’t looking good on paper,
but by your generosity, the session’s frugality, and God’s grace, we have been
able to meet all of our obligations.
It’s been like the widow’s jar of oil that never ran out because she was
faithful to take care of Elijah, the prophet of God. But we are called not to survive or to coast
but to thrive. We have an opportunity to
thrive. We can be generous. We can look outward. We can try new things, and we must. We will have to learn where to focus our
attention. We will need to decide what
to take on the journey and what to leave behind. We will meet new people along the way. And we need to be prepared to see unexpected
blessings.
There was a time when going a different way for me proved
to be an unexpected blessing. I was on
my way to a concert in Ithaca, NY coming from seminary in South Hamilton,
MA. I had never been to Ithaca before,
so I gave myself an extra hour of time, hoping to get there early and check-in
to my hotel before the concert. I was on
a toll road interstate. This is before
cell phones and GPS. I missed my exit
due to poor signage, so I figured I would turn around at the next one. That adds toll to the route, but I did
it. Then I missed the exit again! I was
not going to pay that extra toll a third time, so I ended up getting off at an
earlier one, pulled out my map and planned a new route, and commenced to
driving on twisty, two-lane backroads.
As I was going up a hill, I noticed a ton of smoke in my rearview
mirror. Thankfully, when I go to the top
of the hill, there was a gas station. I
pulled in. And immediately 3 men came
out of the gas station to help me with the car.
It was clear that a hose going to the radiator had burst. An easy fix if you can get the part. I always kept tools in the car. If I had been on the interstate when that
happened, I wouldn’t have been able to pull over easily and get help. One man offered to take me to the auto parts
store to get the new hose. On the way to
the store, we stopped by his house, and I got to meet his family. In the car, he told me his life story, and I
got to share a little bit about Jesus to him.
We got the part, and he helped me get it back on, which was much harder
than getting it off because you had to trim the hose and wrestle it on the
fittings in freezing weather in which snow had started falling. We topped off the antifreeze, and I was on my
way. The time it took was all the
cushion time I had allowed in my trip. It was getting dark by the time I
arrived in Ithaca. I pulled in to the
concert venue just as it was about to start, not having checked into the hotel
ahead of time. But I didn’t miss any of the show. There was so much of the hand of God in what
happened. I didn’t end up broken down on
the highway. I had people to help
me. I got to witness to the stranger who
showed me kindness. We don’t know what the unexpected blessings will be, but we
can trust that God will give them to us.
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