Friday, June 29, 2018

OK, you're dead, now what? (part 3 -- fin)


OK, you’re dead, now what?  (part 3 – fin)

            So far, we have seen:
            First, when we die, our bodies return to the earth.
            Second, when we die, our souls/spirits are immediately in the presence of Jesus (for believers) or in a place of torment (for unbelievers).
Third, when we die, our souls/spirits are conscious and experience pleasure or pain.
Fourth, when we die, nothing we do can change our location from the place of torment to the place of pleasure or vice versa.
Fifth, our bodies remain in the earth and our souls/spirits remain with Jesus in the place of pleasure (or, if you are an unbeliever at death, in the place of torment) until Jesus returns.
Sixth, when Jesus returns, the dead believers will meet Him in the sky and then the living believers will meet Him in the sky.
Seventh, when the bodies and spirits/souls of believers are reunited with Jesus in the sky, we will be with Jesus forever as humans – bodies and spirits/souls joined together as one.
No let us consider:

“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 will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (I Corinthians 15:51-53, ESV).

First, when Jesus returns and meets us in the sky, we will be made immortal.

When Jesus returns and our bodies and spirits/souls are reunited, we will be glorified, perfected, and made immortal.  We will never die.  Our bodies and spirit/souls will never be able and in fact will never die again – we will be alive forever – with Jesus.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead” (John 21:12-14, ESV).

Second, we will know each other.

With the exception of a few times that Jesus temporarily kept people from knowing Who He is after the Resurrection, Jesus was recognizable to His family and friends.  And since we will be like Him, we can be sure that we will know our family and friends.

Third, we will eat.

Jesus ate after the Resurrection and told the disciples that He would eat and drink the Lord’s Supper in the Kingdom.  Likewise, we will eat and drink in the Kingdom.  Will we need to eat?  Will we have other bodily functions?  We’ll have to see.

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:19-25, ESV).

Fourth, the rest of the Creation will be restored and glorified.

The Kingdom of Heaven that we will inhabit for all of eternity is this planet, glorified – with all of the created order as we know it.  Will we have our pets from years past?  To the children, I say, I don’t see why not.

What will we do with Jesus and our friends and family and all the other believers throughout time and space and the critters of Creation?  Certainly, there will be worship.  But, will we play and learn and spend time with our friends on this earth as we do now imperfectly?

If you want to think more on these things, one book I would strongly recommend in the new book by Derek Thomas, Heaven on Earth:  What the Bible Teaches About Life to Come.  I agree with Derek’s analysis and hope with his hopes…though I am more interested in seeing cats than dogs – but we can have them both!

Reformed Wisdom

On Isaiah 8:20 --
"Hence we learn that everything which is added to the word must be condemned and rejected.  It is the will of the Lord that we shall depend wholly on his word, and that our knowledge shall be confined within its limits; and therefore, if we lend our ears to others, we take a liberty which he has forbidden, and offer to him a gross insult.  Everything that is introduced by men on their own authority will be nothing else than a corruption of the word; and consequently, if we wish to obey God, we must reject all others instructors."  -- Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, vol. 1, 290.

Reformed Wisdom

On Isaiah 8:17 --
"We draw from it this highly useful doctrine, namely, that preachers and ministers of the word ought constantly to persevere in discharging their office, thought it may seem that all men revolt, and give no evidence of anything but obstinacy and rebellion; for the Lord will reserve for himself some disciples, by whom his letter will be read with advantage, though it be closed to others,"  Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, vol. 1, 283.

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Thursday Night Study

There is NO study tonight.  Please plan to join us when we resume, D.V., on Thursday, July 19th at 7 PM.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

"Israel" Sermon: Isaiah 8:1-8


“Israel”
[Isaiah 8:1-8]
June 24, 2018, Second Reformed Church
            King Ahaz got word that Syria and Israel are going to attack Judah, and he shakes with fear.  God offers him a sign to prove God’s word that they will never conquer Israel, but Ahaz turns his nose up at God and refuses the sign.  But God gives the sign in spite of Ahaz:  the Savior will be born of a virgin and be called Immanuel, God with us, and Syria and Israel will be destroyed within two to three years.
            God continues to speak in this morning’s text.
            We see, first, God’s Word is for everyone.
“Then the LORD said to me, ‘Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”
            The word of God’s promised Savior and the destruction of Syria and Israel and God’s punishment of Ahaz are for all the people to know.  This is not a private message for Ahaz.  The prophesy of the birth of Jesus – God Incarnate – to the Virgin Mary, is a word of hope and good news for all the peoples.  God’s use of Assyria against Syria and Israel is a word of hope for Judah.  And God’s punishment of Ahaz and Judah by the Assyrians is a word of the seriousness of Ahaz’s sin in trusting the Assyrians over God and how it effects the nation.
            If the beginning of this text sounds familiar, it may be because we recently looked at the book of Habakkuk, where Habakkuk is told by God, “And the LORD answered me: ‘Write the vision;      make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay’” (Habakkuk 2:2-3, ESV).
            Here, God tells Isaiah to take a large tablet and to write the prophecy in large and common characters so anyone passing by would be able to read the prophecy and know what God has promised and will do.
            The tablet – and the words on it – belong to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.  His name is a summary of the prophecy – as his name means, “the spoil speeds, the prey hastens.”  The name is made up of two synonyms meaning that Israel and Syria would be soon destroyed, soon slaughtered.
            And Isaiah gets Uriah and Zechariah to swear that the words on the tablet are the Word of God given by the prophet.
            All of Judah is terrified by the threats of war with Syria and Israel, and all of Judah needs to hear God’s word in response to their fear and the sin of the King.
            I suspect we would all agree that everyone needs to know the bad news of the wages of sin and the Good News of salvation through Jesus Alone.  One of the ways we glorify God and increase our joy is to tell others that there is One Way to be saved from the Wrath of God – there is One Way to be made right with God through Jesus Alone.
            And we hear Jean’s testimony that he painted scriptures on his house and got in trouble with the town for it, but his heart is in the right place, isn’t it?  Shouldn’t we all desire to find a way to put up a big tablet telling people that they don’t have to suffer eternally, if they will receive the work that Jesus did to save His people?
            Last Sunday, did you mention to anyone that the prophecy that the Savior would be born of a virgin is given in response to the sin of the wicked King Ahaz?
            God’s Word is for everyone, and He chose to have us spread it – we are the great tablet of God to bear His Word to the world.
            Second, God confirms His Word with signs.
“And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, ‘Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry “My father” or “My mother,” the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.’”
God told Ahaz that by the time Immanuel knows good from evil and eats table food, Syria and Israel would be destroyed.  And we understand that to be a prophecy about the amount of time that would pass – about two to three years – before God would send the Assyrians to wipe out Syria and Israel.
Here, God confirms the sign with a child who would be born and grow up in the kingdom of Judah:  Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
Isaiah goes to see the prophetess and she conceives and bears a son.  It is thought that the prophetess is Isaiah’s wife.  It is this son of Isaiah that God tells Isaiah to name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
And God again gives the sign, now with Maher-shalal-hash-baz, by the time this boy is able to cry out ”my father” and “my mother” the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the Assyrians.  By the time Maher-shalal-hash-baz calls out “my father” and “my mother,” Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
By the time this little boy is between two and three what this little boy’s name means will happen.
If God tells us something once, we ought to believe and obey.  And if God tells us something more than once, we ought to believe and obey.
As we looked at the Gospel of John, we hear Jesus say, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.  If you love Me, keep My commandments.  If you love Me, keep My commandments.”  Do you have any idea what Jesus was getting at?
Jesus said, “I will return with the Kingdom.  I will return with the Kingdom.  I will return with the Kingdom.”  Do You believe Him?  Are you waiting for His return?  Do you believe that sin and death and Hell have been defeated and as soon as this much time passes and certain things occur, Jesus will return and remove them from our experience forever?
Third, God will damn the people in the Church who are not satisfied with Him.
            “The LORD spoke to me again: ‘Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.’”
            God tells Isaiah that the people of Judah are not satisfied with Him – with His provision – they distain the things of God.
            Shiloah is a small river that flows through Jerusalem.  It is small; it is not much.  It is a gentle and modest river.  And the people didn’t think much of it.  Even though it is the only source of water if Jerusalem is attacked and water is cut off from the outside – it is a bit of a joke.  They should have been thankful to God that He provides water for them in the city.
            On the other hand, to hear that Rezin and the son of Remaliah are going to be slaughtered.  Oh, if they could only know where it was going to happen so they could see them fall – so they could see them be cut in two – that would be amazing.  Kill Syria and Israel!  Yeah!
            They may have even lusted over the wealth that they could pillage from Israel once they were no longer a power and a threat to them.
            I remember an article that came out after Saddam Hussein was executed.  And the article asked if Christians should rejoice at his execution.  The conclusion was that we should never rejoice at someone being put to death – we should mourn that this man seems to have gone to death not having received Jesus as the Savior.  Yet, we should be thankful to God that his evil had come to an end.
            Judah should have rejoiced that God was going to fight for her and deliver her from the threats of Israel and Syria, but they should not have been rejoicing to see Rezin and the son of Remaliah die.
            Since Judah rejoiced in evil and weren’t satisfied with God’s provision, God said He would send the River – that is, the Euphrates River – that is, Assyria – with mighty soldiers, many soldiers, led by the King of Assyria.  And the River will rise over the channels and over the banks and flood Judah up to her neck, the waters will flood all of Immanuel’s land, like the outstretched wings of a giant bird.
            God would allow Assyria to oppress and kill all the way up – but God would not allow them to slaughter everyone – remember Isaiah’s first son, “a remnant shall return.”  God’s Wrath would come against Judah by the Assyrians, but a remnant would be saved.
            We may remember how unsatisfied Israel was as God led her through the wilderness.  One time, we read:  “And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” (Number 11:18-20, ESV).
            Are you satisfied with God’s provision each day?
            On more than one occasion, I have been asked how many people we have, and I say, “About thirty.”  And the person who asks me always looks so sad.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  Have you tried Bingo?  Have you thought about asking the elementary school kids to run the service once in awhile – get their parents in?  Have you thought about preaching on the five biblical methods to look like Cher?”
            My call is to preach the Word of God, and if I am striving to do that with the help of God the Holy Spirit, and you are receiving the Word of God and responding to it with the help of God the Holy Spirit, I am satisfied – you ought to be satisfied.
Paul writes, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13, ESV).
Paul says he has been all along the spectrum as far as what he has, and he can live content in each of those circumstances, because the secret of satisfaction in this life is being satisfied with Christ.
“Stupid, little Shiloah river.  Aw, I wanted to see Rezin and the son of Remaliah get slaughtered.  Do you think anyone videotaped it so I can watch it on repeat?  I hope they leave a lot of money and stuff that we can go pillage after the Assyrians leave.”
“Fine, if you want the River Euphrates rather than Shiloah, I will sent it and it will flood you and drown you up to the neck, so only a few are left.”
Israel and Judah were the people of God.  God chose the whole nation to be His people.  But not everyone in the nation believed.  Not everyone in the nation trusted in God or were satisfied with Him.
The Church is the Israel of God, and Jesus says these words that should terrify us:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23, ESV).
There are people in the Church who believe they are Christians, but they are not.  There are kind, wonderful, caring, giving people in the Church who do great things and are held in high esteem, but they are not Christians.  If you are a Christian, you believe that God came to earth in the person of Jesus, lived a holy live that He credits to everyone who believes, died, paying the debt to God for all of the sins every believer will ever commit, and He physically rose from the dead and ascended back to His throne at the right hand of the Father.  And because you believe that, and you are indwelled by God the Holy Spirit, you keep Jesus’ commands.
Only Jesus can see our hearts and know if we truly believe in Him, or is we are like King Ahaz, or the people of Judah who mocked the River Shiloah and wanted to see slaughter and steal the wealth of Israel.  But when I talk to other ministers and hear them speak – when I go to our Classis meetings – I hear some of these people and I am afraid,  I am afraid they don’t believe in Jesus savingly.  I am afraid that if nothing changes, they will stand before Jesus in their clerical robes, and He will say He never knew them.
Are you sure of what you believe about Jesus?  Are you a Christian?
Don’t let yourself be surprised as the waters rise and Jesus takes the throne.
But there is good news, isn’t there?  Always tucked in Isaiah’s words, there is good news:  “O Immanuel.”  The wings of the giant bird will fill your land, O Immanuel.
Syria will be slaughtered.  Israel will be slaughtered.  Judah will be slaughtered.
But, the land belongs to Immanuel.  A remnant shall return.  The Savior will be born to a virgin.  He will be God with us.  And He will save His people from their sins.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for being the God Who keeps His promises.  We thank You that we can trust You and come to You and find our satisfaction – our contentment – in our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We thank You for the history of Israel and Judah and all that You teach us through it.  We ask that You would send the Holy Spirit in all His fullness to us that we would be large tablets proclaiming Your Word – and especially that salvation that is in Your Son.  Help us to speak and to tell others Who Jesus is that the Holy Spirit might convict thm and cause them to believe.  Cause us to be sure of what we believe about Jesus, so we will not be caught up short on the last day.  And help us to look forward in hope and contentment.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.