"What Is Needed" Sermon: Mark 6:30-56 (video)

(333) "What Is Needed" Sermon: Mark 6:30-56 - YouTube

 

"What Is Needed" Sermon: Mark 6:30-56 (manuscript)

 

"What Is Needed"

[Mark 6:30-56]

April 9, 2006 Second Reformed Church

March 28, 2021 YouTube

John the Baptist has been buried, and the disciples, who Jesus has sent out two by two, come back to Him to tell Him what they have taught and what they have done among the people of Israel. And then Jesus tells the disciples that they should rest -- they should take time to refresh themselves in a quiet place.

            While Moloch and Baal and Asherah and every other god is crying out, "more, more, more," Jesus says there "is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:7b, ESV). Ours is the God Who knows us and cares for us such that He said, "six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work..." (Exodus 20:9-10a, ESV). He also calls us, now, after His Resurrection to rest, "on the first day of the week" (Acts 20:7a, ESV).

Many people were coming to Jesus and the disciples, but He knows they are tired, and they haven’t had time to eat, so He sends them away, into a desolate place to rest and prepare themselves for the work that is coming. And Jesus says the same thing to us today, "You don't have to accomplish everything right now. Take a break; rest and prepare yourself for the crowd that is coming. Rest is necessary."

            Do you take time to rest? We need to take the time we need each day and each week to bring ourselves back and to ready ourselves for the good works that God has set out for us. God does not want us to go non-stop -- it's not healthy for us. And we need to be mindful of each other, that we are not expecting others to run at a pace that does not allow them time to rest. Rest is a gift from God that we must all receive and allow others to have.

Jesus sends the disciples off to rest, but the crowd recognizes them and runs after them on foot. Every one of them wants to be healed and taught and cared for by Jesus and His disciples, and they run so fast they get to the desolated place before the disciple's boat arrives. And Jesus takes pity on them -- they are desperate -- they are like sheep without a shepherd, so Jesus begins to teach them, and He teaches them hour after hour, and they listen.

What do we think of the desperate, the disillusioned, the disenfranchised? Do we pity them? Do we look at those worshiping false gods and pity them? Do we see those who are pursuing things that will never satisfy and pity them? Or do we pass by on the other side of the road? Do we just say, "God bless you and be at peace"? What or who makes your heart break? And what are you doing about it?

The disciples come to Jesus and tell Him that night is upon them, as if He is unaware, and they tell Him to send the people away -- they have been with Him all day, listening to Him preach and teach, and now they ought to get something to eat. The crowd has been so wrapped up in what Jesus is saying, that they don’t notice that they haven’t eaten -- have you ever been doing something that you were so excited by, so enraptured with, that you forget about food -- that you forget it is time for a meal? Jesus is that way: knowing Jesus is worth more than food. If you haven't had that experience, pray God that there will be a time when listening to Jesus' Word and studying it finds you forgetting about your sandwich. If we are in love with Jesus, there will be times when we suddenly realize that we have forgotten to eat, because we have been so involved with Him.

            Jesus tells the disciples, "You feed them." And the disciples respond, "Right, we're going to go back with two hundred days' worth of cash and buy this crowd bread." But Jesus says, "No, how many loaves do you have?" And they told Him, "Five and a few fish." That is more than enough for the God of the Universe, and they should have known. They would have known how the prophet Elisha meets a man from Baal-shalishah who had twenty loaves of bread and a sack of fresh ears of corn, "And Elisha says, 'Give to the men, that they may eat.' But his servant says, 'How can I set this before a hundred men?' So he responds, 'Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, "They shall eat and have some left."' So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord" (II Kings 42-44, ESV).

Jesus holds the bread and fish up to heaven and praises God and prays, thanking Him for His bounty, and He breaks the bread and breaks the fish and begins filling baskets and tells the disciples to distribute them to the people sitting on the grass. And they go around and feed the people -- we're told there were 5,000 men, so it is not unreasonable to think there were about 15,000 people there, if we consider that there could have been an equal number of women and children. And once the 15,000 had been fed, the disciples come back to Jesus with twelve baskets full of bread and fish.

Do you doubt that Jesus can provide for our needs, as individuals and the church? Perhaps we have not always gotten what we wanted, what we thought we needed at a given moment. But the Scripture tells us that if we do not have, it is because we do not need it to accomplish God's purposes. God gives each of us what we need, and He gives us more and more.

 

Paul writes, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from who every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith -- that you, being grounded and rooted in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen" (Ephesians 3:14-21, ESV).

            Immediately after these things happen, Jesus sends the disciples back to the boat and tells them to sail, again, and He will get rid of the crowd. Once Jesus has sent them away, Jesus goes into the mountain to pray. Prayer is necessary.

            Why do we pray? To change God? To give Him information? To point out His mistakes? Of course not. We pray to align ourselves with the Will of God – with the Mind of God. Prayer changes us. We pray to align ourselves with the Will of God – the Mind of God. But we must take time to pray -- alone and with each other -- because that is the example of the Scripture. Our prayers don't have to be fancy or "perfect," whatever that means. But we must pray. We need to pray that God would help us to understand, that He would lead us, and that He would provide us with all that we need. Prayer is necessary for our health and life: do we pray? Do we gather with each other to pray? Let us become a people of prayer that are becoming more in line with the Mind of God by His Grace.

While Jesus is praying, a violent wind comes upon the Sea of Galilee, and the disciples are struggling about mid-way across the sea to sail into the wind to get to Bethsaida. And Jesus walks out across the sea to the disciples, and when they see Him, they think He is a vision of some sort and they are shaken to their core, but Jesus says, "Take courage It is I. Do not be afraid." And Jesus gets into the boat and the storm stops. But they are still afraid. And the Scripture tells us that they still didn't understand what the bread means, and their hearts have been hardened.

What a sad situation. Those closest to Jesus just don’t get it, and that lack of understanding leads to fear. And that's true for us, as well, it is the things we don't understand that we fear, and it is when we don't understand the place of Jesus as God and Lord of the Universe that we fear. For, if we know that Jesus is God and Lord of all, and He is our God, what would we have to fear? We are not a people without hope. Yes, we suffer and mourn loss, but ultimately, we have hope. We know what happened that first Easter morning.

            Horatio G. Spafford sent his wife and four daughters from America to England to their new home. They took the first ship, and he was to follow shortly. But a storm rose and the ship his wife and daughters were on sank, and his four daughters were lost at the bottom of the sea. Surely he mourned their loss, but he did not fear, because he had a sure hope. He made the voyage across the sea to be reunited with his wife, and as he sailed across the deep where his daughters had died, he wrote these familiar words, "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well with my soul.'"

Is it well with your soul? Do you know that Jesus is the Lord and God of all? If you do, then you will come to receive whatever comes from His Hand and not be afraid, but instead be satisfied in Him.

            They cross to the other side of the sea and land at Gennesaret, and they dock, and when they disembark, they are immediately recognized, and the people rush to Jesus with their sick, bringing them on their mats -- on their beds, if necessary. No matter where Jesus goes, the people run after Him and seek salvation from Him. Action is necessary.

            The word that we translate, "begged," is a word the indicates that these people not only beg Jesus with words, but they press against Him, they get in His face, and they will not leave Him alone until they touch Him and be healed -- saved.

            And we remember the woman with the issue of blood who is healed when she touches Jesus' robe, Jesus does not have a magic robe. No, Jesus heals her, and He has compassion on those begging Him for healing. Jesus has compassion on them, and He has compassion on His people. Jesus has compassion on us. Look at where we are, who we are, and think about where we could be. If we understand how much worse off we could be, we can understand how much compassion Jesus has shown us -- how much He has blessed us. Do you realize how blessed you are? Do you understand the enormity of the compassion Jesus has shown to you? Merely consider what He suffered, willingly, for you.

James writes, "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?" (James 2:15, ESV). What can you give of your abundance? What's holding you back?

The crowd persists after God's Will and they receive results, and so shall we. If we are about God's Will. If we seek after God and His kingdom, we shall receive it.

To live the Christian life, action is needed, prayer is needed, and rest is needed. Each at the right time and in the right amount. As we live the Christian life, we learn that Jesus has compassion for His own, He is the Lord and God of the Universe, and He provides for all our needs.

Even on that first Palm Sunday, we see Jesus having compassion on Jerusalem, crying for them and their sin as He prepares to ride in. We see the crowds recognizing Him as the One True King of Israel as they throw the palms and their cloaks down to make a path of comfort as they welcome the new King into the city. And we see Him providing for our needs, in His Life, through the horrific events of the week of the crucifixion, and then as He rises from the dead.

Let us pray:

King Jesus, we come before You as people who have not taken the rest You give us. Forgive us and teach us to love a holy rest. We come before You as a people who have shuffled You off to the corner, rather than bowing before Your Throne. Forgive us and humble us that we might be right witnesses to Your Majesty. We come before You as a people who say, "it's not my job." Forgive us for shirking our duty to You and Your creation. Make us understand that You have equipped each one of us and given us good works to carry out in Your Name. Increase our trust in You and make us compassionate towards each other for Your Sake. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Review: "40 Questions about Pastoral Ministry" (video)

 (323) Review: "40 Questions about Pastoral Ministry" - YouTube

Review: "40 Questions about Pastoral Ministry" (manuscript)

 

            I’ve read other volumes from the “40 Questions” series published by Kregel Academic, and this one is my favorite so far:  40 Questions about Pastoral Ministry by Phil A. Newton.

            As with the other volumes of this series, it is written by a Baptist.  I say that just to make the reader aware that the book will be coming from a Baptist perspective – with the requisite denunciation of paedo-baptism.

            The book is divided as follows:

            Part 1: Foundational Considerations; questions 1-5

            In this section, Newton answers the definition of a pastor, the definition of pastoral ministry, the qualities of a Christian pastor, how this relates to Jesus, and whether it is better to have a plurality of pastors.

            In the final section of this part, Newton answers whether there ought to be a plurality of pastors.  By this he means, should there be and elder who functions as the primary preaching and teaching elder as well as other elders who help the pastor not to go astray and be teachers themselves.  The answer is “yes.” And it seems to me it would be “yes” in many denominations, but with different terminology.

            Part 2: Pastoral Development and Health; questions 6-13

            In this section, Newton answers questions about how the pastor can care for himself and his family spiritually and in relation to one another.

Part 3: Pastoral Practices; questions 14-20

Here, Newtons gives the answers to how a minister begins his ministry and is sustained in ministry, both in self-care and in dealing with others who may cause problems for the pastor and the congregation.

Part 4: Pastoral Preaching; questions 21-28

Newton then addresses how a pastor should preach, including arguing for lectio continuo over against the lectionary or topical series.  He also looks at how a pastor should conduct worship, funerals, and weddings.

Part 5: The Church and Pastoral Ministry; questions 29-40

In the final section, Newton defines the Church, looks at the authority of Scripture, how and when to make changes, how to practice church discipline, polity and membership practices, and church revitalization.  He also answers how to help a church face suffering, support missions, and he considers when a pastor should leave a church and why having a long pastorate is a best practice.

Each chapter ends with a summary of the chapter and several questions for personal or group reflection.

The book ends with a selected bibliography and a Scripture index.

I am impressed with this book and the answers Newton gives.  He is thorough, yet very readable and useful for the pastor and the board of elders (if not others).

Throughout the book and second or third to the Scripture, Newton quotes from Puritan writers.  I highly value the Puritan writers as godly and biblical people and am thankful when I see their work used by others.

I consider this a tremendous book.  One that would well be given to seminary students for them to work through before graduation or receiving a call to a church.  These are issues that need to be thought through before walking into a church and working with them.  So, I recommend it highly.

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

"The Cup of Wrath" Sermon: Isaiah 51:17-23 (video)

(320) "The Cup of Wrath" Sermon: Isaiah 51:17-23 - YouTube

 

"The Cup of Wrath" Sermon: Isaiah 51:17-23 (manuscript)

 

“The Cup of Wrath”

[Isaiah 51:17-23]

March 21, 2021 YouTube

            Last week, we saw Jerusalem call on God to wake up and to pay attention to what is happening – Jerusalem is going into captivity.  And God assures her by telling her that He is Omnipotent, and she should find assurance in that by considering the things He has done in the past.  Also, God is Omnipotent, so they should not fear any human, because God has all authority over them.

            In this morning’s text, God turns the tables on Jerusalem and tells her to wake up.

            And we see first, our sin merits God’s Wrath.

“Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.”

God calls on Jerusalem to wake up and stand up – to understand that she has drunk from the Lord’s cup of wrath.  She has sinned against God and is now receiving God’s Wrath for what she has done.  She has drunk deeply – engaged in sin without remorse – without repentance, and now God’s Wrath is against her.

Notice God’s accusation is against Jerusalem – not the pagan nations.  It is God’s people who have turned away.  It is the Church that has turned away – that has together as one joined in sinning against God and think it shouldn’t be any big deal.

Are our churches faithful?  Are our denominations faithful?

I am a member of the RCA and we are deciding whether to divide over whether the Bible is the authoritative Word of God or not.  There is a growing presumption in some churches that what the Bible says is not the authoritative Word of God.  This week I listened to a sermon by a minister who said there are much more important things to preach from the pulpit than the Bible.

God tells us to wake up!  We are drinking His cup of wrath. God requires all those who sin and never repent – never genuinely believe in Jesus as God and Savior – to pay the debt for their sin.

Jerusalem drinks the cup of wrath to the dregs and God tells her that she must go into captivity for her sin.  Yet, as we saw last week, she is to remember that God is Omnipotent.

“There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne; there is none to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up.”

God tells her that there is no help for her – her sons and daughters cannot help her escape from the cup of wrath she drinks and the debt she owes to God for doing so.  She willingly drinks from the cup and sin merits wrath.  There is a price to be paid to God for our sin, and no mere human can deliver us from paying that debt.

“These two things have happened to you—who will console you?—devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?”

In being taken into the Babylonian exile – the cup of wrath results in devastation of both the land and the people.  As in the Fall of Adam and Eve, the Creation is punished along with the humans. There is no comfort in drinking the cup of wrath.

“Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.”

The young and strong will not be able to help Jerusalem escape.  They too will fall under the results of drinking the cup of wrath, and they will be caught as an antelope in a net, and they will be taken into captivity as well.

God’s Wrath for sin must be satisfied.  God must rebuke those who sin.

God says, “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, ESV).

And for those who sin and never repent, the cup of wrath brings them to eternal death and suffering: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8, ESV).

Being a part of the Church is no security against the fruit of drinking the cup of wrath.  It doesn’t matter if you are a minister or a Sunday school teacher, or a great giver, or a regular attender, or a church member – whatever – if you do not believe that Jesus is God the Savior – the Servant Savior – you will have to pay the debt to God for your sin – eternally.

Second, God saves His people from His Wrath.

“Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine:”

God calls on His people to recognize that they have sinned against God – God does not just say, “Oh, well, they’re My people, I won’t hold their sin against them.”  No, sin must be paid for if God is Just.

Paul writes, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31, ESV).

God calls out Jerusalem and says that she has sinned against God and so drinks the cup of God’s Wrath to the dregs.  There are now only two options, since the cup has been drunk:  pay the debt to God yourself or receive the substitution of the Servant Savior – He willingly takes on the sin of all those who will believe savingly in Him.

Here is what will happen to those who receive Him and believe in Him savingly:

“Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: ‘Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;”

Those who believe will not suffer the full Wrath of God.  We will suffer in this lifetime – Jerusalem is sent into Babylon – but we who believe will not suffer eternally.  We will suffer far less that we deserve because the Servant Savior takes our sin upon Him and pays our debt.

We know the One Who pleads our case – the One Who mediates for us before the Father:

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (I Timothy 2:5-6, ESV).

Jerusalem is told that He is the Servant Savior – the long-awaited Messiah.  And so, they are called to believe in Him and trust that He will deliver them from their sin and from captivity in Babylon.  Yet, God does not tell them when.

God does not tell them how long they will stay in captivity or how they will be delivered from captivity, but since God is Omnipotent, they know that He will deliver them.

We who believe understand that the most we suffer on earth is less that our sin merits. Yet, none of us knows how much we will suffer for our sin or how or when God will deliver us from our suffering.  But if we believe, He will.

Jerusalem will return to the land after some seventy years.  We will be received into the Kingdom when the time is right.

Where is the cup taken away from we who believe? Throughout the whole life of the Servant Savior, but perhaps second to the actual crucifixion, we read:

“And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:39-44, ESV).

He is the Servant Savior Who takes the cup of wrath from Jerusalem and from us and receives God’s Wrath for our sin:

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:46, ESV).

In that moment, He received the Wrath of God for all the sins of all those who will ever believe savingly in Him.

On the final day, all those who never believe will be given the cup of wrath.  All those who have sinned against God and never believed, and all those who have sinned against God’s people, will be given the cup of wrath and made to endure its fruit forever.

“and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.”

Jesus speaks of His condemnation of those who never believe:

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matthew 25:41, ESV).

God shows mercy in that day to Jerusalem, still, her sin would have to be paid for.  God has shown mercy to us in this day, still our sin must be paid for.

Jesus has taken the place of everyone who will every believe throughout time and space and paid the debt for their sin.  Not only that, but He has also credited each one who believes with His Righteousness, so the Father will receive us into His kingdom eternally on the last day.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You that You are a Just God – that You do not change with every wind that blows.  We thank You that You have saved us through the Savior – that Jesus took the cup of Your Wrath from us and drank it.  And we thank You that Your Justice will be served as all those who never believe are eternally bound in Hell to Your Glory.  Help us to be thankful and to take in something of the horrors Jesus endured to take the cup away from us.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Review: "How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps" (video)

 (315) Review: "How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps" - YouTube

Review: "How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps" (manuscript)

 

            Ben Shapiro’s latest book, How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps, came out as these issues started to become prevalent in 2020, and his book is even more on point and needed now – in 2021.

            In this book, Shaprio distinguishes between two different understandings of the United States, specifically with respect to three issues:  the philosophy of the United States, the culture of the United States, and the history of the United States.  These two views he calls “unionist” and “disintegrationist.”

            Shapiro argues that the unionist view of American philosophy “rests on three basic principles: first the reality of nature rights, which preexist government, inalienable and precious; second, the equality of all human beings before the law, and in their rights; and finally, the belief that government exists only to protect the natural rights and to enforce equality before the law” (xv).

            The unionist view of American culture “is characterized by four distinct elements.  First, a tough-minded tolerance for the rights of others, particularly when we don’t like how others exercise their rights—we have to agree to disagree, and to get over it.  Second, our culture prizes and cherishes robust social institutions which creates a social fabric that allows us to trust one another in the absence of compulsion from the government.  Third, American culture has always carried a rowdy streak in defense of liberty:  we were willing to stand up for our freedom and that of others.  Finally, American culture has always celebrated and rewarded those with a sense of adventure—the pioneers, the cowboys, the inventors, the risk takes” (xvi).

            “Finally, there is American history.  American history has traditionally been read as a story of ever-improving fulfillment of American philosophy and culture through proper exercise of American institutions.  Traditionally, American have learned that the values of the Declaration of Independence are eternal and true; that our culture of rights has been broadened in application in time by heroic struggle and through horrific pain; and the constitutional system represents liberty, increasingly effectuated.  American history, the, is a story of triumph over the tragedy of human nature, the victory of liberty over slavery and bigotry” (xvii).

            The disintegrationists have different views:

            With regards to American philosophy, they deny that natural right, human nature, and reason exist.  They say the equality before the law is morally wrong, and that government is not to guarantee our rights, but a “cure-all” for American’s “ills” (xix).

            With regards to American culture, they claim the rights are a threat to the common good and argue against individualism in favor of the intersectional hierarchy.  They argue that all the systems of America are racist and must be torn down and replaced by the government collective (xx).

            With regards to American history, they say our traditional history is a myth, and our true history is one of exploitation, and the Declaration and the Constitution are merely attempting to codify hierarchies of power (xxi).

            For the next two hundred pages, Shapiro fleshes these understanding out using history and reason to show that the disintegrationist view is dangerous to the future of the country, and the unionist view must be embraced and lead us to love one another if this country is to have a future (201-202).

            The book ends with endnotes and an index.

            This is a revealing and frightening book as the reader can see these two views of American in the current public square and see them growing in opposite direction.  We cannot continue with such polarizing views of the country and keep the country together.

            This is an important and revealing book.  Get it, read it, share it with anyone who will read it.

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

Reformed Wisdom

 Calvin on Isaiah 41:17

"The Church is here reminded that all evils which befall her proceed from no other source than from the hand of God, that she may not think that they happen to her by chance, or that she is unjustly afflicted." Commentary on Isaiah II:85.

Review: "The Middle Way" (video)

 (305) Review: "The Middle Way" - YouTube

Review: "The Middle Way" (manuscript)

 

            I came across Cole Hastings (known on social media as seasoned tofu) looking for recipes for vegan meals.  His social media deals with vegan meals, body building, and self-help.  I have found his content both enjoyable and helpful, and he has even answered some of the questions I have asked him.

            He has written a book titled:  The Middle Way:  How to Strategically Use Laziness to Enhance Your Creative Power. Even before reading his book, I knew form his social media that he is influenced by Stoicism, Buddhism, and a dualistic perspective on the world.

            His book contains thirty-five one-to-three-page chapters in which he summaries all the lessons that have been helpful to him.  It is very readable and contains many good ideas to follow up on.

            In calling his book, The Middle Way, he says we should free ourselves from addictions to pain and pleasure and enjoy whatever life gives (4).

            He denies that anything is wrong, but I wonder if he really believes that (7), and he argues that if we “act as if” something is true, the universe will bring it to you (11).  He says that thankfulness is essential to good living (15), yet to understand you are nothing in the scope of the universe (33).

            He explains that success is being aware of your needs and removing anything that keeps your needs being met (48). He writes about the importance of self-care (64).

            The subtitle concerning laziness as the strategy to enhance your creativity means this: rather than pressing ahead and never stopping to attempt to be creative, take time to go for a walk, take time to sit and allow you mind to wonder, and so forth.  This may seem like laziness to many, but in allowing whatever will to bubble up into your mind will enhance your creativity (69).

            The second half of the book is an application of the things he teaches in the first half – and it is much more than I have said – this little book is jam-packed with ideas and guidance.

            In this section, he talks about the value of asking questions (72), writing/journaling ideas without prejudice and then going back to them, exploring what they might lead to (82), determine the work scenario that works for you – both place and time (86). 

Then he talks about several ways to practice laziness to your profit. And he explains the value of saying “no” – something I have been working on even before reading his book (112).

He recommends consuming other creators’ content to spark ideas within you (122) and get some walking in (124).

The book ends with a list of references.

I found Cole’s book interesting, encouraging, and of value.  It is short, pithy, and conversational – like you’re discussing these ideas with a friend.  And, as I have said, it covers a lot of ground.  This could be considered a life primer.

He said on social media that he hopes to write another book.  I hope he does.  He is a thinking person – and I enjoy interacting with people who think – who spur me on to further thought.

I do have questions that I hope I will be able to ask him about – how his understanding of dualism works, what he means by “illusion,” and so forth.

The one thing that bothered me is that he puts references to some ideas and quotations in his book, but not for all of them.  All the ideas he gets from others need to be documented.

Otherwise – it is a great place to start for anyone seeking to live life well and creatively.  Check him out.

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

"Whom Should You Fear?" Sermon: Isaiah 51:9-16 (video)

 (302) "Whom Should You Fear?" Sermon: Isaiah 51:9-16 - YouTube

"Whom Should You Fear?" Sermon: Isaiah 51:9-16 (manuscript)

 

“Whom Should You Fear?”

[Isaiah 51:9-16]

March 14, 2021 YouTube

            In the opening verses of this chapter, we see that righteousness is given by God through Jesus – the Servant Savior – to the people of God, and since they are righteous, they have no reason to fear men because the wicked will eternally be eaten as a cloth is eaten by moths and worms.

In this morning’s text, we are told the primary reason that all those who believe in the Savior should not fear men.  It is divided into two sections.

First, God is Omnipotent; remember His works.

“Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?”

And the twenty-first century Christians said, “What?”

God is told to awaken – does He not recognize what is going to happen as Jerusalem is taken into captivity?  Where is the God of Jerusalem?

God is told to put on strength – to show that He is the all-powerful One – the Almighty – to do something new for His people, just as He has done in the past – in the days of old – in the generations of old.

Jerusalem is remembering the things that God has done in the past for His people, and they call on Him to do something now.  They call on Him to use to power of His arm – His Sovereign Power over all things.

And that’s not wrong, is it?  We are told to call on God – to seek His Will – to pray. 

James writes, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:1-2, ESV).

Jesus tells His disciples to pray, and we are to pray.  We are to ask for our daily bread – whatever we need this day to be the people of God as God wills us to be.

And then Jerusalem follows this up by asking the rhetorical question, “Aren’t You the One Who cut Rahab into pieces and pierced the dragon?”

These examples are in a code that Jerusalem would have understood:

The sons of Korah write, “Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush—'This one was born there,’ they say” (Psalm 87:4, ESV).

So, Rahab refers to a place, not to the prostitute of the book of Joshua.

Isaiah tells us who Rahab is back in chapter 30: “Egypt’s help is worthless and empty; therefore I have called her ‘Rahab who sits still’” (Isaiah 30:7, ESV).

Rahab is Egypt.

And the dragon?

Ezekiel prophesies, “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’ I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales. And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall on the open field, and not be brought together or gathered.         To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens I give you as food’” (Ezekiel, 29:2-5, ESV).

This code is used to show that the cosmology of Babylon is not the cosmology of Genesis – to awaken Jerusalem to think about what God has done in her past.  The Creation history of Babylon is a myth; the Creation history of the Bible is true.  And the God of the Bible is the True and Almighty God.  They need to know this with surety as they prepare to be exiled in Babylon.

The Babylonians believe that there are two equally powerfully gods that fight each other over the chaos in the beginning of time.   Mummu wants to create order, but Tiamet wants to maintain the primordial chaos.

The point is that just as God is the Almighty Who defeated all the gods of Egypt – who are not gods, but idols, so God is Almighty over Babylon and her so-called gods.

Tiamet is the so-called god of the primordial chaos – represented by the sea.

But Jerusalem remembers:

“Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?”

Remember that God, the One God, the Almighty God delivered His people out of Egypt, and when they faced the Red Sea, with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit, God divided the sea and the children of Israel waked across dry ground to the other shore – and when the Egyptians made their way to the dry ground, God let the waters return and drown the Egyptians.

God, not Tiamet, is Sovereign over the waters and all of Creation.

If we want assurance that God is Almighty – that there are no other gods who can compete with Him or thwart His Will – look at the history of God recorded in the Bible – see the Almighty God – Who is our God.

Don’t fear being exiled in Babylon, or Covid, or President Biden or President Trump – God is Sovereign over all of these – He is the Almighty.  Everything He wills comes to pass. And God has promised Jerusalem that the day will come when her exile will be finished, and she will return.

“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

A day will come – some seventy years after the exile begins – when God will return Jerusalem by His Mighty Right Hand – just as He delivered them from Egypt – and bring them back to Zion – to Jerusalem.  And there will be singing and everlasting joy – gladness and joy – all the effects of sin and evil will be banished from the Kingdom of God and His people.

And this is partially fulfilled in Jerusalem’s return.  God leads them out of Babylon, returns them to the land and there is singing and joy and gladness.  But sin and evil are not banished – yet.  Still, this is the promise of the Almighty God – He will do it.

Surely, we remember this promise as it is revealed to us in Revelation:

 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away’” (Revelation 21:1-4, ESV).

God is Omnipotent – Almighty over all His creation.  Look to God’s past works to see that this is true.  Be assured that no matter what we go through, God is the All-powerful God, and He is Sovereign over all that is happening.

Second, God is Omnipotent; whom should you fear?

“I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass,”

God speaks and stresses that He is – most assuredly, the God of Moses, the God Who spoke to him in the burning bush – the “I AM” of Israel.  And God says to remember that He is their comforter – He is their advocate.

We remember the word from Isaiah 40: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2, ESV).

And Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:15-17, ESV).

“Helper” here is the same word as “comforter” in the Old Testament – so the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is our Comforter – our Advocate.

So, God – the Triune God – the Almighty God days, “If I am Your Comforter – your Advocate – your Helper, why should you ever be afraid of a human?”

David writes, “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more” (Psalm 103:15-16, ESV).

Jesus says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28, ESV).

In other words, the Only One we should fear is God.  We ought to be in awe of God and obedient to God.  And the wicked ought to tremble in fear.

If God is the Omnipotent, Sovereign, Only God – and we are believers – we never have any reason to fear any human – only God.

And we might think, “Well, that’s easy to say, but what if you are being stalked, or have a gun held to your head, or are terminally ill, or the government begins an authoritarian crack down on her people?”

Jesus says the worst anyone can do to us is kill us, and then we shall immediately be with Him.

At this point, there is a bracket in the text and Isaiah speaks:

“and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking.”

Isaiah tells Jerusalem – as they fear being taken into captivity – and some will be killed and some will die – “have you forgotten that our God is the All-powerful, Sovereign God is the One Who made us?  Have you forgotten that He is the One Who stretched the heavens across the sky and laid the foundation of the earth in the Creation?”

We were created to glorify God, whatever that means for us. As Paul writes, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV).

Are we in fear all day long because of this or that?  Are we afraid that something of someone might kill us?  Are we afraid of the spiritual forces that are seeking to destroy us?

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

The Almighty God has promised release those who bow before Him – who come to Him in humility, believing and repenting of sin.  All who believe savingly in Jesus will never descend into Hell, and all who believe savingly in Jesus will have their daily needs met.  The God Whose will cannot be thwarted promises this, and He cannot lie.

God continues, “I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

The sea is not just symbolic of chaos and evil and death for the Babylonians, it is similarly symbolic in the Bible – so we have John tell us in the book of Revelation that the “sea is no more” – referring to the end of chaos, death, and evil, not the end of the physical sea.

So, God again says that He is All-powerful and Sovereign over the sea and its roaring waves – not Tiamet.  God does not sin or do evil, but sin and evil are under His control and are part of the plan that best accomplishes the glorifying of God.

This same God has given us His Word and put it in our mouths – the Word delivered by the mouths of the prophets.  He protects us from the evil that tries to do to us what God has forbidden.  He is the God Who is establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth for His Kingdom.  He is the One Who chose Jerusalem to be His people – all those who believe savingly in the Servant Savior.

Paul writes of our confidence against those we could fear:

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’            

            “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-39, ESV).

            All those who believe savingly in the Servant Savior in Jerusalem are eternally the people of God, and all those who believe savingly in Jesus throughout time and space are eternally the people of God.

            So, God is Omnipotent, and Jerusalem has nothing to fear in going into exile, and we have nothing to fear from what men may do to us.

            Let us remember that God is Omnipotent and remember all that He has done throughout history, and let us not fear humans, but God Alone.

            Let us pray:

            Almighty God, we are a frail and forgetful people.  Bring to mind what You have done and all we have been told about You in Your Word.  Cause the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, to grow in faith and obedience, and not to fear what man can do.  And may the works You have ordained for us be a glory to You.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

"Listen & Hear" Sermon: Isaiah 51:1-8 (video)

 (287) "Listen & Hear" Sermon: Isaiah 51:1-8 - YouTube

"Listen & Hear" Sermon: Isaiah 51:1-8 (manuscript)

 

“Listen & Hear”

[Isaiah 51:1-8]

March 7, 2021 YouTube

            Last week we saw that some of Jerusalem were questioning God as to why they are going into exile – into the Babylonian captivity, and God makes it clear to them that they are going into captivity for the sake of their sin.  Sending them away from the land is God’s discipline of them.

            We also saw more about the Servant Savior – how He will submit to God the Father and take on and pay the debt for all the sins of all those who believe in Him throughout time and space, and the Father will help Him to do this.

            As we continue in our text, God addresses those in Jerusalem who are striving for righteousness.

            And we see, first, the Lord is the source of righteousness.

            “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD:”

            God calls on those who are striving for righteousness – those who are pursuing righteousness – those who are keeping the Law of God and not sinning to the best of their ability – truly – and God tells them to listen.  (These vigorously seek righteousness – they are dissatisfied with sin and its promises.) Those who pursue righteousness – those who seek the Lord – are to listen to Him.

“look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.”

And God tells them to look at where they come from.  Understand where they get the ability and the desire to pursue righteousness.

“Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you;”

God suggests that they look to Abraham and Sarah the parents of Israel.  And that might seem like a good place to claim their pursuit of righteousness comes from.

God speaks to Abraham, and we read, “And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:5-6, ESV).

God chooses Abraham and Sarah to be the parents of Israel.  God promises Abraham that his descendants will be like the number of the stars in the sky.  And since Abraham believes God’s promise by faith, God counts it to him as righteousness.

But that’s the wrong answer.

“for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.”

God says, “But I am the One Who called Abraham.  I chose to bless him.  I made him a people for Me.”  The Lord God is the only source of righteousness.  It is from Him and to Him and by Him that anyone can pursue and strive after righteousness.  The godly of Jerusalem – the believing remnant of Jerusalem – who pursue righteousness – are hewn from the rock by God for His purposes – for His glory – and by His power indwelling in believers Who is the Holy Spirit.

God does not want them to become confused and think that their pursuit and success in righteousness is of their own power or by virtue of their heritage.  Rather, they ought to rejoice and give thanks, for God has gifted them with the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit so they desire and strive after holiness.

And the same is true for modern believers.  We strive after righteousness – we desire to keep the whole Law of God and not sin against Him – because God causes us to have that desire and gives us the ability to pursue it, and as we do so, it is credited to us as righteousness.

Paul writes, “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11, ESV).

The Lord God – Who is sending His people into captivity – is the Comforter of Jerusalem – He is the Comforter of all those who will believer.  He is the Comforter of all we who believe through all our trials and tribulations.

God tells those who seek Him – and righteousness – God will restore His cursed, fallen creation.  The Lord will comfort Zion – Jerusalem.  He will change the wildernesses and make it into a new Eden – deserts will be the new garden of the Lord.  And in the garden, there will be joy and gladness and thanksgiving and the voicing of songs!

This is the restoration all creation is awaiting:

“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” (Romans 8:19-23, ESV).

Glimpses of this begin to be seen as Jerusalem is freed from the Babylonian captivity.  Glimpses begin to be seen as we see people from every nation believing savingly in Jesus as God and Savior.

The Lord God is the source of our righteousness through Jesus.

Second, the righteousness of God is for all peoples.

“Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.”

God calls His people – those who seek after righteousness – to understand that the Torah – the Law of God – the revealed word – will go out from Jerusalem to all the peoples of the world, and God will set justice before them – He will make clear to them the difference between staying in their darkness and being in the light of God through Jesus.

As John writes, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:9-13, ESV).

And Jesus says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23, ESV).

God demands the attention of His people to tell them what will come to pass.

Similarly, God demands our attention to the whole Word of God – to know Him and His salvation – to know how He would have us live and how to strive after righteousness and holiness.

“My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait.”

Freedom from Babylon is a forerunner of the spiritual salvation that is found only in the Servant Savior God sends.  Just as God will save His people from slavery in Babylon, God will save His people from slavery to sin and the devil.

God makes the point that salvation and judgment come together.  God does not merely grant forgiveness – the debt to Him must be paid – there must be a judgment for the sins of God’s people.  As we saw last week – this is taken on by the Servant Savior for our sake and to the Glory of God.

And so, it is not just Jerusalem that looks forward to the salvation of God – from Babylon and from God’s Wrath against our sin, but the coastlands – all the Gentile nations come to hear of the salvation that is only found in God through Jesus.  They wait for God to exercise His Power in sending His Son in the person of Jesus for the sake of all those who will believe.

In the doxology to Paul’s letter to the Romans, he writes, “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen” (Romans 16:25-27, ESV).

God continues by presenting the created universe as temporal, but human life – damned and saved – as being eternal.

“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed.”

The sinful, fallen creation that we observe is temporal and will be renewed and restored on the final day.  The restoration will be through purification – and all that is wrong and evil will vanish like smoke and wear out.  All that is less than perfection and holiness – as it will be in God’s kingdom – will die and be sent away – including those who never believe savingly in Jesus.

Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33, ESV).

The psalmist writes, “They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end” (Psalm 102:26-27, ESV).

And Peter explains, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (II Peter 3:10-13, ESV).

The righteousness of God is for all peoples and involves both the eternal salvation and judgment of all of Creation.

Third, the righteous have no reason to fear men.

“Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings.”

God again calls His people to listen to Him – to hear what He is saying.  As they are taken off into captivity, even with the promise of salvation and righteousness for all those who will believe in the Servant Savior – if the Law of God is in their hearts – if we have believed and seek after obedience to it – there is no reason to fear the reproach of men.  All we who believe should not fear when men put us down and threaten us for believing in the Servant Savior.

The psalmist writes, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6, ESV).

“Well, they could kill us!”

Jesus says, “so what?”  “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28, ESV).

Jesus is not saying that believers should run head-long into situations where we will be put to death.  No, He is saying that those who have been made righteous through Jesus have nothing to fear from the people of this world.

Why not?

 “For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool, but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.”

The reason why those who strive after righteousness and holiness do not need to fear what the world does to them when they are striving to live according to the Law of God is that the righteous will be with God – eternally saved – forever.  Nothing can take the salvation away that we are given through the work of the Servant Savior.

However, the wicked – those who never believe savingly in Jesus – will eternally be like a garment eaten by moths or wool that is eaten by worms.

Jesus says, “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:29-30, ESV).

And John records, “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15, ESV).

Eternal salvation is a call to fearlessness because our salvation is founded on the goodness of God.

So, the righteous – those who have been made righteous by God through Jesus – have no need to fear men.

            For the Lord God is the source of our righteousness.  Merited by Jesus and applied by God the Holy Spirit.

            And this righteousness that God gifts is for all the peoples.

            And as those who have been saved and made righteous, the evil of the world should not make us fear.

            Let us pray:

            Almighty God, we are weak and do tend to fall into fear.  Send the Holy Spirit to grow us in faith, to help us to hold on to the fact that salvation is utterly from You.  You have made us righteous, and we will be in Your kingdom forever – without a doubt.  Cause the Holy Spirit to continue to strengthen us and to pursue righteousness in this life with our whole being, and may You be glorified.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.