"You're Free to Do What I Want" Sermon: Job 1:6-12 (video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_8B1_nBZ0o&t=10s

"You're Free to Do What I Want" Sermon: Job 1:6-12 (manuscript)

“You’re Free to Do What I Want”

[Job 1:6-12]

March 29. 2020 YouTube

            Why is coronavirus in the United States?  And let’s assume that it is here – you can find people online who say that coronavirus is a hoax for this reason or that reason.  But, let’s assume that this is really happening – a horrible virus that originated in China is spreading around the world. Why?

            There are many levels of answers to the question of why – some we can give answers to, some we cannot.  If we look at this as being, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  We’ll, we’re all sinners, so, as Jesus said, “Only God is good” (Mark 10:18).  So, the question becomes “Why do bad things happen to bad people?” And that’s not much of a question, is it?

            There is an answer we can get to – and there is a response to the answer that we ought to have as believers.  We may find it as we look at the beginning of the book of Job.

            In the opening verses of Job, we read:

“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, ‘It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.’ Thus Job did continually” (Job 1:1-5, ESV).

Job is a man who is blameless, upright, who feared God, and turned away from evil.  He is a man who takes his belief and faith and obedience to God seriously.  He is a sinner – we know that every mere human born after Adam and Eve is a sinner, but he strives with everything in him not to sin – to be obedient and faithful.  And his neighbors are witnesses to Job’s faithfulness and obedience – he is known as someone who strives after holiness.

            God has blessed Job tremendously – he is married with seven sons and three daughters and he is the wealthiest man in the Eastern world.  And Job loves and cares for his family – he is the family priest to them – and in case his sons or daughters sin in their heart and don’t even realize it, Job offers up prayers and sacrifices on behalf of each of them regularly.

            Job is the holiest man his neighbors know.  If we listen to most of our TV preachers, Job is the man of whom they would say, “See, Job proves that if you live a good life, God will give you fertility and cars and boats and money, and everyone will speak well of you.”

            And they have it wrong, of course, God does not bless Job for being faithful and obedient; Job is faithful and obedient to God because God has blessed him.  But that’s another sermon.

            And then we come to this morning’s text, and we see:

            God uses His Creation to accomplish His Will.

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?’”

A day comes when the sons of God come before the Lord, and Satan shows up as well.  And God sets a trap:

“Oh, Satan, where have you been?” God knows exactly where the accuser has been and the evil he has been doing.

“I have been walking the length and breadth of the earth.”

Why?  It would seem most likely that Satan had been walking over the entire extent of the earth tempting people to sin.

And then God sets up the rest of the book:

“Oh, and did you happen to see my servant Job?  You know, the one who is unlike anyone else on earth – the one who is blameless and upright, who fears Me and turns away from evil.  You know, the one who you have the most difficultly tempting because he is so embedded into My Word that he sees your schemes from a mile away and denies you time and time and time again.  Did you happen to see him by any chance?”

God knows Satan has seen Job – Job is a thorn in Satan’s side.  Job would be a great prize if Satan could get him to sin and sin and deny God and have a great fall.  And now God has got Satan fixating on Job.  And the reason God has trapped Satan into fixating on Job is that God is going to use Satan to accomplish God’s Will.

And we might think, well, that’s not fair to Satan.  God is tricking him – trapping him – just like the great deceiver would do to one of us.  How can God be just is using Satan to accomplish His Will?

After God has finished disciplining King Nebuchadnezzar, we read:

“At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34-35, ESV).

In Jeremiah:

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

“Then the word of the LORD came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel’” (Jeremiah 18:1-5, ESV).

Once again, Paul writes:

“You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:19-24, ESV).

God, as the Sovereign Creator, has the right to do with His creation whatever He wills, and He uses Satan – and you and me – to accomplish His Will.

Second, Satan is the accuser.

“Then Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

Satan answers, “The only reason Job is faithful and obedient is because You keep Him safe and give him a family and wealth and happy neighbors – all the money and power and happiness anyone could ever want.  That’s why he’s faithful and obedient.  If You would dare to take anything away from Your pet, he would curse You to Your Face.”

“You’re buying him off, God!  If You stopped making like a slot machine that keeps paying off, he would curse You out!”

Two things to notice here – God does protect His people.  The Good Shepherd does keep His sheep in the sheep fold and bears the rod and staff against any robber or predator.

A couple of weeks ago we looked at Jesus’ testing in the wilderness and we referred to Psalm 91:

“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot” (Psalm 91:11-13, ESV).

And we said that we must read this carefully.  It is not a promise that the angels will always keep us from ever suffering.  Anyone who is alive knows that’s not true.  What the Psalmist is saying is that God sends the angels to protect us and we have less suffering in this world than we would have had, had we not been believers in Jesus for salvation.

Again, believers die horrible deaths – Job’s sons and daughters are crushed to death in the rubble of their homes.  Still, in looking over the whole of any believer’s life – due to God’s protection, we suffer less – overall – than we would have.

            And second, is that the best Satan can come up with?  “You’re bribing Job!”  “You’re engaging in quid pro quo” – as we have come to understand in modern times.

And so, Satan is the accuser.  He will accuse us to get us to sin – He will even accuse God – for all the good it does him.  Satan has followed God’s lead to where he wants him to be.

Third, God is Sovereign over the sin and evil in the world.

“And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”

God tells Satan, “Ok, let’s put your accusation to the test.  Have at it.  Do whatever you want with everything he has – just don’t touch him.”

(We know that Satan will come back, and God will tell Satan that he can do anything he wants to Job, as well, but he cannot kill him.)

And so, Job’s cattle are stolen, his children all die, his wife turns away, and he becomes horribly, painfully sick.

God allows Satan to do what God wants him to do.

God lets Satan loose to harm Job which is what God’s Will is.

If it had not been God’s plan for Job to suffer like he did, God would not have allowed Satan to have at Job the way He did.

So, God does not do evil or cause evil, but God will allow evil and sin and suffering to accomplish His plan.  God is Sovereign over evil and sin and suffering – they cannot occur outside of God’s Providence.

But Job’s friends come by and for chapter after chapter after chapter, they say, “Job, you must have sinned a real doozie – just confess it and God will set you right again.”

But Job insists he didn’t sin.  So, why did Job go through all this suffering and death and pain?

Job shakes his fist at God at the end of the book and says that God owes him an answer, and God says, “Really?  Were you there when I created everything that is?”  God asks Job many questions he can’t answer.  “Can you take Leviathan for a walk?”

But seriously, why?

God wants Job to better understand God’s character.  God does not give Job an answer, but a window into Who God is is made larger for Job.  He is able to look at everything that happened and trust God and know that God is God and he is not.

God wants to bring all these horrible things together for Job’s good.  In the end, God restores everything and more for Job – which is joyful for him, but the greatest good for Job is what He has learned about God, His Savior.

Why is coronavirus in the United States?

Where were you at the Creation?  Can you take Leviathan for a walk?

And, remember that God is trustworthy, and He promises:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, ESV).

God is working this virus together for the good of those who love Him.  Even if we get sick.  Even if we die.  Even if our friends and family die.  Even if they get sick.  Even if this virus changes the world in ways we could never have expected.  God is working this together for the good of those who love Him.

Peter is writing to Christians suffering persecutions from Rome and the Jews, but we can receive it as Christians in whatever way we are suffering:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (I Peter 3:1-9, ESV).

Listen to the doctors.  Trust God.  Trust Jesus. It will all work together for our good.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, You are the Sovereign Creator of all.  You direct every molecule in all of Creation, and each one is under Your control.  We ask that whatever You choose to come to pass, You would cause us to be at peace in You – trusting You – believing that You are bringing this all together for our good.  We thank You for the history of Job.  We ask You would give all the medical personnel working on this virus safety and wisdom that they would come up with a vaccine.  And, if You are willing, we ask that You pluck all the coronavirus out of the world and put it to death.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

"Leave the Weeds" Sermon: Matthew 13:24-30 (video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s0gvd8yGvw

"Leave the Weeds" Sermon: Matthew 13:24-30 (manuscript)

“Leave the Weeds”

[Matthew 13:24-30]

March 22, 2020 YouTube

            As we continue our journey through the season of Lent, today we look at the divide between all of humanity:  those who are of the Kingdom of Heaven and those who are of the kingdom of the devil.

            Something to remember as we get into our text:

            God, the One Triune God, is absolutely sovereign over all of Creation.  The devil is a creature – a powerful creature – but a creature.  He is not equal to God in power and authority, and he does not reign over Hell as our comics and movies would have it.  The devil it utterly subject to God – God reigns over Hell.

            We are not considering two equal but opposing kingdoms.  No, God is Sovereign over all, and the devil is an evil creature who seeks to have us rebel against God, but the devil can only do what God allows him to do – he cannot do anything that thwarts God’s Will.

            Chapter thirteen of Matthew is a collection of parables.  It begins with the parable of the sower, Jesus explaining that He speaks in parables so His hearers will not understand, and then He explains the parable to His disciples.

            Then we have this morning’s parable, the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the leaven, and then an explanation of the parable of the weeds to the disciples.

            The chapter ends with the parable of the hidden treasure, the parable of the pearl of great price, and the parable of the net, followed by Jesus being rejected in Nazareth.

            All these parables have to do with the Kingdom of God – those who are in it and those who will be kept out of it.

            And so, we turn to the parable of the weeds.  And for this parable, we have the great help of Jesus explaining what the parable means to His disciples.

“Then [Jesus] left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ He answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear’” (Matthew 13:36-43, ESV).

First, the world is divided into those who follow Jesus and those who follow the devil.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.”

All human beings come from the lines of our first parents:  Adam and Eve.  God directly fashioned Adam and Eve, and all of humanity comes from them – from the lines of their sons Cain and Seth.  Theologically we talk about this as being the line of the devil and the line of God, respectively.

We remember that Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden and all humanity was affected by their sin in being both born sinners and in committing actual sin.  And we know, “For the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23a, ESV).  Paul also says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3, ESV).

So, the question is never, “where did the followers of the kingdom of the devil come from?”  Every mere human being born after Adam and Eve is born dead is sin, damned to Hell, a follower after the kingdom of the devil.  Unless…

Paul explains:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:3-10, ESV).

Out of an entirely damned and worthy of Hell people, God chose to save a people for Himself.  You may remember this theme from when we went through the Gospel of John – and even as we have been going through the book of Isaiah – God saves a remnant for Himself.

Why?  Because He loves us and for the praise of His glorious grace.

            In sum:  out of the whole damned humanity, God planted seeds for His Kingdom – chose a people, and left the rest to be the seeds of the devil – those of the kingdom of the devil – those who will never believe in Jesus for salvation.  These are the two groups of people in the world, and we live together in the same world.

            The parable continues, and we see:

            Second, God has reasons for not gathering the damned immediately.

“And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.’”

The Church asks God if He sowed good seed, and if He did, how are there weeds?  If God is Good and created everything good, why is there sin and evil in the world?  And God answers that the enemy did it.

The Church asks God if He wants them to gather the weeds – throw them into Hell, and God says not to, because they might uproot believers with them.

So, three reasons we are given that God does not immediately throw the damned into Hell:

First, God wants to make His riches known to believers.

“What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—" (Romans 9:22-23, ESV).

God allows those who will never believe to continue to live and reproduce and have lives, so we will recognize the riches that God has given to us in Christ – that we would thank Him and be faithful and obedient.

Second, God wants us to learn patience and to submit to Him.

In asking Jesus if they could gather up the damned right then and there, we are reminded that, as Jesus prepared to go to Jerusalem, He asks to stay in a village of Samaria, but they refuse Him.  “And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’” (Luke 9:54, ESV).

We are not the judge – Jesus is.  There is a righteous anger, but this is not it.  The disciples were insulted and wanted revenge, and Jesus rebuked them.

Third, God warns them that they might uproot believers in the process.

What is Jesus saying other than the fact that we cannot know the heart of any person at any given time.  Someone who may look and act and speak as though they are the seed of the devil may, in fact, be someone the Holy Spirit has not regenerated yet.  Many plants look alike when they first sprout.  If all those people who now look like they will never believe in Jesus were thrown into the fire, many people who will come to faith in the days and years to come would be thrown – against the work of Christ – into the fire.

People will come to believe and repent of their sins until that day that Jesus returns to judge every person throughout time and space.  Until that day, we have no right to give up on someone – we are to continue to bring the Gospel to them and pray that God the Holy Spirit will cause them to believe.

Finally, God will send the angels to collect the damned for Hell and the redeemed for salvation.

“Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”’”

The redeemed and the damned will exist on earth until Jesus returns.  When He does, all the holy angels will come with Him, and everyone who has every lived will be gathered into one of two groups:  those for the furnace, and those for the barn.

John describes the Judgment:

 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15, ESV).

Jesus will judge, and all those who never believe in Jesus for salvation will be gathered by the angels and thrown into the lake of fire where they will suffer for all of eternity for their sin.

John the Baptist speaks of Jesus at the shores of the Jordan: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12, ESV).

The chaff – that papery cover of the wheat that is useless except to be burned – are the damned.  The wheat are the elect of God – the redeemed – those who will live in the Kingdom of God with Jesus for all of eternity.

And so, on that final day, based on the works that Jesus performed to redeem His people – we will be received into the barn – that is, the Kingdom of God – in all its fullness, made perfect and glorified, and we will worship for all of eternity in Jesus’ presence.

So, we understand that before the foundation of the world, God chose a people for His Son – all those who will ever believe in Jesus savingly.  The rest of the people will receive the just and eternal punishment for their sins.

For now – and until Jesus returns – we live together on earth – living, dying, reproducing – and that is so we who believe will recognize the riches we have received, be thankful, and obediently and faithfully spread the Gospel to the whole world – because Jesus said to, and we have no idea who God has chosen to believe – even at the last moment of their lives.

We are called to be faithful and obedient.  Jesus will judge the world.  We will receive the free gift of eternal salvation.  The rest, the angels will take to eternal suffering.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, You created to show Your Love and Justice.  Help us to keep before us that You are Love and You are Just – let us never compromise one for another – making light of sin or being vengeful, when vengeance is Yours.  Help us to be thankful – to open our mouths to proclaim the Gospel of Your Son.  Be pleased to send the Holy Spirit out from us – “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

"I Believe in Jesus, Too" Sermon: II Corinthians 4:1-6 (manuscript)

“I Believe in Jesus, Too”

II Corinthians 4:1-6

March 15, 2020 YouTube

            What do you believe is most important in a Christian preacher, teacher, or believer?  Is it that they be beautiful in their body?  Always having a smile?  Always promising good?  Never feeling bad, or mentioning sin, or calling us to repentance?

            Should they require payment upfront?  (That’s how we know they are good and right, right?)  Should they have golden tongues and never speak anything grammatically incorrect?

            One of the things that Paul addresses in his letters to the Corinthians are people that Paul mockingly calls, “super-apostles.”  These were Ken and Barbie preachers and teachers who came into town with the right clothes and the right speech and spoke in a way that made you feel good – you had to pay upfront, of course, and pay them well to speak.  And then they would tell you what you always knew about yourself.  They would teach you how to think better to live better, get you to next level thinking, and teach you how to declare your will into reality!

            These “super-apostles” were critical of Paul.  Paul was short and had a big nose.  He was not a great speaker.  And they said you could tell he was not a great apostle, because he suffered so much.  True apostles don’t suffer, after all, they said (cf. https://ssg.church/past-articles/the-super-apostles/).

            Paul’s Gospel is different from the gospel of the “super-apostles.”  Paul says this is the Gospel:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles” (I Corinthians 15:3-7, ESV).

The Gospel is what Jesus did in history to merit our salvation.  Period. Nothing more, nothing less.

We must respond to it, but the Gospel is the work of Jesus and the work of Jesus, God the Son, alone.  That is why it is good news.

In this morning’s text, we look at part of Paul’s attack against – and warning about – the “super-apostles.”

First, God gives us His ministry.

“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.”

It is easy to get discouraged – especially if we are serving a small church.  It could be easy to get discouraged if we understand we are not the most handsome, most well-built, most eloquent and brilliant speaker for miles around.  We could become discouraged and think that the church simply will not visibly grow because we are preaching the Whole Counsel of God – and some of it makes us feel bad.  We could become discouraged if we believe that the church stands and falls on us.

We need to get it into our heads – not just those who have been called to ordained ministry – but everyone who has been called to faith in Christ – that the Church, the Gospel, and our role in proclaiming the Gospel are the gift of God given to us in mercy.

If we have prayed and are faithfully prepared and present the Gospel from the Whole Counsel of God to the best of our abilities, relying on God the Holy Spirit to do with it as He wills, we have been faithful and obeyed the call on our lives.

So, we have hope.  We have hope because it is God’s Gospel, God’s Church, God’s Salvation, and God’s choice to use humans to proclaim His Gospel.  Our hope is not in ourselves – not in our abilities and presentation and looks and manner, but our hope is in the Gospel that God has promised to bring to fruition.

We are called to be faithful and obedient – and we are not.  So, thank God our hope is not in ourselves, but in God and His work.

Second, proclaim the Gospel plainly and clearly.

“But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.”

The “super-apostles” came with all their college words and impressed people to no end, but people didn’t really understand what they were saying.  Also, the “super-apostles” preached certain things and left other things out – and even added to the texts.

If your pastor is preaching on Genesis 19 – about the angels visit to Sodom – and your pastor preaches on “How to Make Friends in a New Neighborhood,” no matter how handsome the pastor, no matter how beautiful the language, no matter how good it made you feel, he has failed in his call to proclaim the Gospel simply and plainly.  He has preached another gospel, which is not a gospel at all.

The “super-apostles” are disgraceful – they are underhanded in the way the get their message across and want us to praise them, rather than God – to give glory to them, instead of the Gospel of our God.

The true preacher – the true proclaimer of the Gospel – who relies on God Alone and gives Him the glory is not cunning (like the serpent we saw in the Garden a few weeks ago).  He does not tamper with the Word of God to make it more acceptable to the hearers.  Rather, he studies the text and presents it as a herald, “Thus says the Lord” – as plainly and clearly as he can – neither adding nor subtracting from it – admitting when there are passages that he has not  come to understand yet.

Doing so, “we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.”

The true follower of Jesus Christ who faithful tells others the Gospel does so keeping in mind that he is doing so in the sight of God.  First and foremost, we are responsible to proclaim what God has said – and He is watching, and He knows if we have spoken truly.  His concern is that we clearly and plainly proclaim the Gospel. 

Be comforted in knowing that God does not usually choose Ken and Barbie:

As Paul explains to the Corinthians:

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (I Corinthians 1:26-31, ESV).

God usually chooses people like us to proclaim His Gospel clearly and plainly.

Third, the clear and plain Gospel is veiled to the unbeliever.

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Paul uses imagery that would have been familiar to the Corinthians:  in Exodus 34:29-35, we read that Moses spoke face to face with God, and when Moses came out from speaking with God, his face shone with the Glory of God, and the people were frightened of him.  So, after Moses spoke with God and then gave God’s Word to the people, he wore a veil over his face, so he wouldn’t scare the people.

But here, he tells we who proclaim the Gospel that if people don’t believe what we say, it is not because we are not “super-apostles” – if we are clearly and plainly telling people Who Jesus is and what He did and they do not believe – if they do not believe, it is not because we are not cute enough or not golden-tongued enough, it is because the Gospel has a veil over it – not unlike the veil over Moses’ face – which blocks understanding – the reception of the Gospel.

When Moses receives the Ten Commandments, God says, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. (Exodus 33:19, ESV).

Paul quotes this in Romans 9 as he explains that God is the One Who opens the hearts and minds of people to receive the Gospel and believe.  Until God intervenes, no one will believe – the Gospel is veiled to everyone until God chooses to unveil it.  So, to God belongs all the Glory for salvation.

Ours is to be obedient and clear and plain in explaining and presenting the Gospel – no one needs a PhD before he can tell another person about Jesus.  No one has to know all the multisyllable words there are before he can tell people that God came to earth in the person of Jesus to life a perfect life, die for the sins of everyone who will ever believe and rise from the dead to secure our salvation – so, repent of your sin and believe.  We can all do that – and that is God’s call on us.

Veiling is the result of sin.  Unveiling is the work of God the Holy Spirit.  Ours is to be faithful and obedient and proclaim the Gospel, praying that God will use it to His Glory.  As we study and prepare and speak, we ought to also pray that God will use our presentation of His Gospel to bring the elect to salvation – that He will lift the veil and cause men and women to believe.

Fourth, we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.

“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The “super-apostles” preached themselves – their perfections – what they wanted to get across and what they wanted from the people who listened to them.  They believed they were better than everyone else.

But Paul tells us that we do not proclaim ourselves – the Gospel is not about you or me – much less our perfections or imperfections – but we proclaim Jesus Christ – God the Son, the Promised Savior, Who Alone gifts salvation to His people.

We rightly see ourselves not as “rock-star preachers,” but as servants of Christ and His Church.  The Westminster Shorter Catechism gets it right when it says the chief purpose of human existence is to glorify God and enjoy Him. God created us and gave us salvation and calls us to obediently proclaim the Gospel as a pointing to Jesus – our posture should be one of “don’t look at me, look at Jesus and what He has done.” 

And we – both as ministers and laity are to serve the Church – all other Christians.  With whatever gifts we have been given – along with the call to proclaim the Gospel – we are to serve all other Christians.

Peter writes, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:10-11, ESV).

A word on ordained ministers in particular:  as we serve Christ and His Church, our congregations ought to respond to that by esteeming Christ – by holding Him in high regard – and by esteeming us for the sake of the office, insofar as we are being faithful.

The “super-apostles” ought not to be esteemed – much less worshiped.  But, if you find yourself with an ordained minister who may not stand out from the crowd, who may not do everything you would like, who may not be everything you prefer in a minister, but, if he is striving to be faithful and obedient to God – if he is preaching the Gospel each week as he finds it in all of the Scripture – if the Glory of Christ has shone into his heart and you can see it shining forth to you, such that you glorify Christ, you might well esteem him.

Let us all gather together – all Christians – in love and service of our God and Savior, Jesus – outdoing one another in joyful service – giving thanks that the work of the Gospel is accomplished by Jesus and is applied by the Will of God the Holy Spirit. 

You and I are called to be faithful and obedient – and to tell everyone the Gospel.  And as repentant, believing sinners, we can have great hope, because God is at work in and through us and will bring everyone He has chosen to salvation.

Let us be faithful and obedient – and tell everyone the Gospel – not worrying if we are holy enough or able enough or cute enough – you’re not.  We are the heralds of the Almighty God Who will without fail accomplish His work.  Let us rejoice and give thanks for the gift we have been given.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for giving us the gift of salvation and for calling us to proclaim the Gospel.  Keep us from becoming proud and distorting Your Word.  Help us to speak plainly and clearly, showing ourselves to be Your servants.  Servants who are full of Your joy.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

"I Believe in Jesus, Too!' Sermon: II Corinthians 4:1-6 (video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7mqYToJZOE

Review: An Insider's Guide to Praying for the World

            In considering a help for our people in praying for the world, I came across An Insider’s Guide to Praying for the World, by Brian C. Stiller.  As of 2016, when this book was published, Brian C. Stiller was the Global Ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance.

            The book has fifty-two chapters making it a book one can pray through in a year – giving one week to a country (most of the readings are for a country – a few are for a person or a ministry) – or, you could pray through it in fifty-two days, as I did.

            Each reading has a small map of the country, statistics regarding the country – including location, population, and religions.  Then – and this is what makes this book unique, Stiller writes about his time in the country and what he experienced.  Each reading ends with a Scripture, items to pray for, and a prayer to pray.  The book ends with a short prayer journal section.

            We as Americans – and I speak as one and as one who know some – tend to forget the rest of the world exists, except in the thirty-second blips on the news.  We have brothers and sisters in other countries who need our prayers – who are praying for us – and as one body, we ought to have some knowledge of them and be in prayer for them.  There are numerous books and organizations that can help us do this.  This book is one of them.

            For the sake of having someone who has been where he is asking us to pray and tells stories about the real people and knows their needs – this is a book worth getting for your whole congregation as we did.

            As a book that “only” addresses where Stiller has been, it doesn’t address every country in the world.  But it is a great place to start.

            [This review appears on my blog, my YouTube channel, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

"You Deserve It" Sermon: Matthew 4:1-11 (manuscript)

“You Deserve It”

[Matthew 4:1-11]

YouTube March 8, 2020

            McDonald’s slogan, “You deserve a break today,” is not far from our current American slogan, “You deserve it.” Many believe that they are deserving of whatever they desire by virtue of breathing – that they have a right to have certain things “just because,” and they are just in taking them.

Jesus says, “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So, you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (Luke 17:7-10, ESV).

Jesus tells us that if we were without sin and obeyed the law perfectly, we would not have merited anything, for we would only have done what is our duty.  The devil tempts us to think we are worthy and deserving – and that is not to say that it is wrong to enjoy things or to receive something in return for our labor.  The devil tempts us according to our weaknesses and during times of weakness so, as with the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, when God says not to eat it, we think, ‘But, you know, I really deserve it.”

            Last week, we considered how sin came into the world and how we have all been affected by it.  We saw that God cannot lie and, in fact, He has given us blessings beyond measure out of His Grace.

            This morning, we turn to the work of the devil as we look at Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.  Jesus spends thirty years in His parents’ house, is baptized by John, at which time the Father declares Jesus to be God the Son, the Beloved, and then the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness.

            “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

            And we might well ask why?  Why did God the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness?

            The first answer is blatant in the text – to be tempted by the devil.  But why?

            We need to remember that Jesus is both in One Person, the One God and a real human being – and one of the things Jesus had to do to merit salvation for His people was to keep the Law of God perfectly – to be both sinless and holy.

            So, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for two reasons:  to prepare Him for ministry, and to tempt – to attack – Jesus in human weakness and while He was in a time of weakness – a fast of forty days and forty nights.

            First, the Word of God always takes precedence over what we want.

            “And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

            Jesus is a real human being – after forty days of not eating, He was hungry.  This is a proof that Jesus is a real human being – as well as being the One God.  Just imagine not eating for forty days – many of us can’t get through worship without longing for the coffee hour cake.

            Jesus, in His humanity was very hungry.

“And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’”

And the devil comes to Jesus and says, “I know You are the Son of God.  I know You are hungry.  Your Father wouldn’t want You to be hungry.  I know You want to eat.  Why don’t You just turn these stones into bread and satisfy Your hunger?”

“But he answered, ‘It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

            Jesus answers, “My desire for food is not as important as obeying God’s Word.  I will not doubt My Father’s care and goodness because My body is crying out for food.”

            Is Jesus saying it is wrong to break a fast early if you can’t handle it?  No.  Jesus is not saying it is wrong to break a fast or to eat when you are hungry.  He is saying that He is undergoing temptation to be able to fulfill the Father’s call on His life, so He will not disobey God – He will not sin – He will continue to discipline His body and put it under the authority of the Word of God.

            And Jesus quotes the Word of God to show that what we want does not take precedence over the Word of God.

            We may be going through a time when it seems good to get drunk, and we want to get drunk to feel better – to forget – whatever.  But God says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,” (Ephesians 5:18, ESV).  So, we must not get drunk, no matter how much we may want to and can justify it to ourselves.

            We may desire to have sexual relations with someone, and that person is fine with having sexual relations with us.  But God says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Hebrews 13:4, ESV). So, we must not have sexual relations with someone unless we are married to them, no matter how much we may want to and can justify it to ourselves.

            The Word of God always takes precedence over what we want.

            Second, correct exposition of God’s Word is key.

            “Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

            The devil says, “Ok, if we have to go by the Scripture, look at these two Scriptures that say You can do whatever You want, and the angels will protect You.  So, prove You are the Son of God to everyone by jumping off the top of the Temple and be saved by the angels – as the Word of God says.”

            The texts the devil quotes come from Psalm 91, in which the Psalmist is explaining that God cares for and protects all those of the elect – all those who believe throughout time and space.  The Psalmist is telling us that all the angels of God assist in the care and protection of all the elect.  This text is not specifically about Jesus, but He would be included.

            This is when I remember that Bob Dylan rightly said, “You can prove anything you want with the Bible.”  The point being – you can pull texts out of the Bible – out of context – distorting their meaning – and force them to support whatever position you desire.

            “Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”’”

            The Word of God says that the angels care for and guard the elect, therefore, we can life a life without fear.

            Satan says, you can walk in front of a bus and not be hurt, because the Word of God says the angels will care for and guard you.

            God wants us to know that God and His spiritual army will not allow anything outside of His will to happen to the elect.  God and His angels have prevented unnumbered pains and sorrows on behalf of the elect.  This is a promise to comfort us and to make us thankful.

            This is not permission to sin all we want because the angels will keep us from harm.  No.  That’s why Jesus tells the devil that God’s Word also says not to test God.  If we pull a text out of context, we may suffer in unimaginable ways.

            There is no promise – even for the Son of God – that if He jumped off the top of the Temple that He would not hit the ground and die.

            Correct exposition of the Word of God is key.  The devil will twist and misapply the Word of God to get us to sin.

            For example, the very titling of Jesus as the “Son of God,” has led some to conclude that Jesus is less God than the Father is – or that He is not God at all, but the highest of creatures.  We understand that this is a lie of the devil when we read the texts of Scripture within their context.  Jesus is not the biological Son of God, nor a creation of God, but God Himself.  The title, “Son of God,” refers to His work within the Godhead, not to His being (eternally) subordinate to the Father.

            Third, the Triune God Alone is to be worshipped.

            “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’”

            Finally, the devil takes Jesus up to a place where He can see all of the kingdoms of the world, and the devil says, “all of these kingdoms are full of sinners – they are all full of people who acknowledge that I am the Lord and Sovereign of the earth.  If You will worship me as they do, I will give You the entire earth, all its peoples, and kingdoms.”

            The devil likes to tell partial truths – it is true that this world is full of sinners and kingdoms of sinful people, and people who delight to follow the devil.  But he is not the Lord and Sovereign – the King of the earth.  God has never for one moment relinquished Absolutely Sovereignty over a single molecule in all of Creation.  If He did, God would not be God.  God is either Absolutely Sovereign, or, by definition, He is not God.

We read, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you” (2 Chronicles 20:6, ESV).

God is God over all the kingdoms and all of Creation.  The devil is an “influencer” in modern parlance, but he is not sovereign over anything.  Even in his wickedness, he serves God’s plan (cf. Job 1).

            But there is a bigger issue, isn’t there:

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”’”

God says, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:2-6, ESV).

            Even if the devil is the most powerful creature in all of existence, he is still a creature.  He is still a being made by God the Creator.  The devil is less than God.  He is not to be worshipped.

            God and God alone is to be worshipped.  If we worship anyone other than the One Triune God, we are committing idolatry.  We are idolaters.

            And I hear some of you breathing a sigh of relief because you have never worshipped the devil.  But what is idolatry?

            Paul writes, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5, ESV).

            Covetousness is looking at Mike Bloomberg and saying, “It’s wrong that Mike Bloomberg has sixty billion dollars – he should give some of that money (all of the money?) to me.  I deserve to have Mike Bloomberg’s money.”

            Covetousness is seeing what someone else has and not just wanting it, but saying you are more deserving of it, and Paul says that this is also idolatry, because – in this example – you have put Mike Bloomberg’s money in place of God.

            Lust is saying, “I wish I had that.”

            Covetousness is saying, “I wish I had that because I am more deserving of it than you.”

            Why does he get to have – why does she get to have – I have done – Don’t I deserve to have – that’s idolatry.

            When we live in the most free and prosperous country in the world – when we believe in our hearts and minds that Jesus is the Savior and know that God has saved us from His Wrath – and we say, but it’s not enough – I deserve to have such and such like him or her – that’s idolatry.  When we do that, we are worshipping something other than God.

            The Triune God alone is to be worshipped.

            And then, look:

            “Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.”

            The author of Hebrews writes, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:14-18, ESV).

            Understand, the devil will tempt us in our weak areas and when we are weak.  He will twist the Word of God and take it out of context.  He will try to get us to commit idolatry.  But God came to earth in the Person of Jesus, and Jesus suffered when He was tempted by the devil – in the wilderness and throughout His life on earth – and He can help us when we are being tempted.

            James writes, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7, ESV).

            Let us pray:

            Almighty God, we thank You that Jesus lived to save us as well as died to save us.  We thank You that He gave us an example to being obedient and fleeing from sin.  Help us to quickly turn to You for help so we would always turn from temptation and deny sin.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.