mdevita, Author at Evangelical Presbyterian Church

“Sola, Sola, Sola, Lord!”November 5, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Nov 8, 2017 in Sermons | Tags: Only through Christ are you forgiven, Sola Lord

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 16:1-15 [NLTse]
1“I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. 2For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. 3This is because they have never known the Father or Me. 4Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember My warning. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer.

5“But now I am going away to the One Who sent Me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send Him to you. 8And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me. 10Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no more. 11Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

12“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His Own but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14He will bring Me glory by telling you whatever He receives from Me. 15(All that belongs to the Father is Mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever He receives from Me.’)

SERMON
Last Sunday was Reformation Sunday, a day when Protestant churches around the world celebrated the central belief of Christianity: Justification by faith; that is, God declaring us innocent of sin because of our faith in Christ. I was away last Sunday, so, I hope it’s okay that we celebrate such a wonder a little bit today…

Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk. He had been taught in his Roman Catholic church that God demanded absolute righteousness from human beings in order to be reconciled with us: Absolute love towards Him, absolute love towards our fellow human beings, and unshakeable faith like Abraham’s, who was willing to sacrifice his son. Luther knew he could never meet such a standard and so, even living as a monk, he was tortured by his sin. He came to hate what he called, “the righteous God Who punished sinners”.

In Luther’s day the Roman Catholic church was the only kind of church in Europe. The Pope, cardinals, and bishops had far-reaching power over their parishioners, claiming to have each one’s salvation in their hands! And because Bibles were available only to those who could read Latin, Hebrew, or Greek, there were few who could tell them they were wrong.
By this time, the church had fallen to proclaiming that God declared His people innocent of their sins only through a mixture of faith and works. On the surface this may sound innocent enough, I mean, the Scriptures do tell us that faith without works isn’t truly faith at all. But during this sad time in the Church’s life, abuses abounded.

For instance, from the 1100s to the 1300s – during the time of the Crusades – the Popes declared that a person could automatically be forgiven all their sins if they volunteered to go to Jerusalem to fight “the Muslim infidels” and re-take the Holy City. Notice: Their sins weren’t simply forgiven as they trusted the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, no; only if they trusted Christ and joined the Crusades, would their sins be forgiven. (And many went who were drowned at sea, captured and sold into slavery, or just out-and-out slaughtered.)

By Martin Luther’s day, the sale of “indulgences” had become the popular abuse. Because the Catholic church believed that Christians who had died had to spend time in a state called “Purgatory” to be fully purified of their sins before being allowed into God’s holy presence in Heaven, the church taught that family members could quicken their loved one’s journey to Heaven by giving money to the church. The popular slogan was, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings / a soul from Purgatory springs!”

(In its extreme, “indulgences” could even be purchased beforehand in order to grant a ruler or some wealthy person absolution and the church’s blessing upon a wrong they had not yet done but were planning to do!) It is this “sale of indulgences” where the idea came of one “buying the stairway to Heaven”!

Martin Luther was not the first to call the Catholic church to account for its wrongs and abuses. John Wycliffe in England, John Huss in Czechoslavakia, and Girolama Savonarola in Italy all tried to challenge the church. But Wycliffe was declared a heretic (and after his death his remains were dug up, burned, and his ashes were thrown into a river), Huss was burned at the stake, and Savonarola was hanged and then his body burned. (Every Reformer knew the danger of standing up to the church!)

It was in this climate that 500 years ago, on October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther publicly posted 95 Bible-based proofs showing that God declares human beings innocent of our sin for no other reason than our faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and challenging any and all of his colleagues to a debate if they wanted to try and prove him wrong.

And debate they did! As Luther’s “95 Theses” (as they came to be called) were distributed and spread, other “protesters” and their “protestant” followers across Europe were emboldened. They’d, likewise, been seeking the reform and renewal of the Roman Catholic church and a return to the Bible: Men such as Desiderius Erasmus in the Netherlands, the Waldensians in France and Switzerland, Heinrich Zwingli in Switzerland, John Calvin in Switzerland, John Knox in Scotland, and many, many others.

While the Reformation movement was widespread all across Europe, not all leaders or groups were “protesting” the same abuses, nor were they unified in every area of theology. Some were more concerned about personal holiness. Others saw the abuses of the monastic movement. Others felt the Roman Catholic church needed a thorough “house-cleaning” from top to bottom.

However, five basic, fundamental truths – often called “the Five Solas” – were consistent across the entire movement. In response to the question, “How are people saved?” all of the “protestants” agreed: “Sola fide”, that is Latin for “by faith alone”. Human beings are not eternally-saved by Worship attendance or by church membership or by participating in the Sacramemts, but – “sola fide” – by faith alone!

In response to the question, “How are people forgiven their sins?” all of the “protestants” agreed: “Sola gratia”, Latin for “by grace alone”. A person is not forgiven their sins through “penance”, that is, by trying to show how sorry they are or by trying to do more good than they’d done bad; nor can one’s sins be forgiven by a priest or any other “holy person” declaring one forgiven (since no one can forgive sins but God alone); no good work, no generous gift, nor any manner of repentance can move God to forgive human beings their sins. Sins are forgiven by God’s grace alone, His gift to those who have faith in Him alone.

In response to the question, “Who is the mediator of the Church?” that is, “Who restores Christians back into a right-relationship with God?” And the “protesters” all agreed: “Solus Christus”, Latin for “Christ alone”. Neither priests, bishops, cardinals, popes, nor any form of church hierarchy can bring human beings into a right-relationship with God. Only the sin-less, fully-God, fully-Man Jesus of Nazareth – Christ alone – can bring men and women, boys and girls, back into right-relationship with God as a free gift by God’s grace alone when they receive the Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for their sin by faith alone.

When the reformers were asked, “How do we know this to be true?” That is, “What is the ultimate basis of authority for spiritual life?” the “protesters” all agreed: “Sola Scriptura”, Latin for “by Scripture alone.” Yes, churches will always have their traditions and teachings; yes, human beings will always have the desire to “reason through” and want to make sense of things in their own minds; and, yes, people will always have all sorts of experiences that lead them to this, that, or some other belief about God, salvation, and living by faith; but, Scripture has greater authority than them all!

If a pastor, priest, pope, or church proclaims something but the Bible clearly says something else, trust and live by the Bible. If some well-known scholar or brilliant-thinker declares that this is illogical or that that is unreasonable or that some other thing makes no sense, but the Bible states clearly and repeatedly that whatever-it-is is God’s truth, trust and live by the Bible.

If you have some amazing experience that you’re sure has been with God (or if someone else tells you about an amazing experience they’ve had that they are sure was with God) and it makes you doubt all that the Bible clearly says, or even this or that little thing that the Bible clearly says, if the Bible really does clearly say it, trust and live by the Bible.

The Holy Spirit will never reveal to anyone anything that contradicts or goes against what Jesus has passed on to us in the Scriptures. As Jesus Himself has said, “[The Holy Spirit] will bring Me glory by telling you whatever He receives from Me.” (John 16:14) (And, as we’ve also read, the Lord Jesus is only passing on what the Father first gave to Him!)

Lastly, when the “protesters” were asked, “What is the purpose for life and the church?” they answered with one voice, “Soli Deo Gloria”, Latin for “To glorify God alone”. It’s not to have big congregations or beautiful buildings. It’s not to feed or build homes for the poor. It’s not to get to know the Bible so well that we can quote it and teach it to others. No.

The purpose of life and of the church is to point everyone to God in a way that makes Him look good and gives Him the credit for every good and hopeful thing: To glorify God alone! (Having big congregations and beautiful buildings may glorify God. Feeding and building homes for the poor may glorify God. Getting to know the Bible well and teaching others may glorify God. But all of those wonderful things are empty and worthless if we’re not glorifying God alone, Who has revealed Himself to us by the Scriptures alone, showing us that we are forgiven our sins and eternally saved from all worry, fear, death, and darkness on account of the sacrifice of Christ alone by His free gift of grace alone through faith alone!

How about you?
1. “How are people saved?”
2. “How are people forgiven their sins?”
3. “Who restores Christians back into a right-relationship with God?”
4. “What is the ultimate basis of authority for spiritual life?”
5. “What is the purpose for life and the church?”

Are these questions settled for you?

Let’s pray…

“Do-Be-Do-Be-Do & What Can I Do For You?”October 15, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Nov 8, 2017 in Sermons | Tags: Jesus, Renewed Life

MARK 3:13-19 [NLTse]
13 Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones He wanted to go with Him. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve of them and called them His apostles. They were to accompany Him, and He would send them out to preach, 15 giving them authority to cast out demons. 16 These are the twelve He chose:
Simon (whom He named Peter), 17 James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon (the zealot), 19 Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed Him).

SERMON
I’ve titled this part of my Sermon, “Do-Be-Do-Be-Do,” and would like us to focus on v. 14 of our reading today. Mark writes, “Then He appointed twelve of them and called them His apostles. They were to accompany Him, and He would send them out to preach, giving them authority to cast out demons.” That’s how our New Living Translation – the Bible in our pews – renders the Greek. But most literally, the Word of God says, “And He appointed twelve, whom He also named apostles, to be with Him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message and to have authority to cast out demons.”

In our pew Bible translation this passage from Mark comes across as though there are three “works” the Twelve were called to: 1) Accompanying Jesus; 2) preaching; and, 3) casting out demons. But most literally there are only two things those first apostles were to be about: 1) Being with Jesus; and then, 2) sharing the good news while setting demonized people free.

And that’s why I’ve called the message “Do-Be-Do-Be-Do”: First off, it sounds catchy since Frank Sinatra made such phrases famous; but second, because we live in a culture that loves and rewards doing. However, the Lord makes clear that our doing-what-He-has-made-us-to-do comes from first being-with-Him, spending-time-with-Him, enjoying-simple-fellowship-and-companionship-with-the-Lord.

Our Lord and Savior says this same thing most famously and directly in John 15: “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.” (vv. 4-5)

So, if we want to do good things and change the world for Christ we must first hang-out and spend much time with Christ. If we want to “do” we first have to “be”. (So, I guess Sinatra got it backwards. It should be, “Be-Do-Be-Do-Be”!)

The apostle Paul paints a picture of this reality for the Colossian-Christians, saying, “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ,” (that is, since we were born-anew when we put our trust in Christ), “since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of Heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of Heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life,” (that is, your old life died when you began to believe, and a new life has begun), “and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” (3:3)

Paul is conveying the truth that every Christian lives every day, that even though we can be preoccupied by and focused on our lives here in this world and the things of our society and culture, our real life is with Christ! Yes, just as Christ is with us and in us, here, likewise, we are with Him and in Him, there, at the right-hand of the Father in Heaven!

And the Lord Jesus makes absolutely clear that He created us for fellowship and companionship with Him and not just for the work of ministry for Him when He famously said to His disciples shortly before being arrested: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me. There is more than enough room in My Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.” (14:1-3)

Yes, the Lord has called us to be harvest-laborers in His Vineyard – sharing the good news and doing good to those in need – but He has also called us simply to hang-out and be with Him, enjoying one another’s company. He’s given us work to do! But our ability to serve Him well and to “produce much fruit” comes from spending quality and quantity time with Him: Walking with Him and talking with Him and letting Him tell us we are His Own! And letting Him fill up our lives with joy, like no other we’ve ever known!

MARK 10:46-52 [NLTse]
46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and His disciples left town, a large crowd followed Him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. 47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.
But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 When Jesus heard him, He stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”
So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, He’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

SERMON
Here in Part 2 of the Sermon I want to invite you to get comfortable where you are in your seat. If you’re leaning up against someone I’d ask you to move just slightly away so – at least for this time – you aren’t distracted by their touch… Put your arms comfortably at your sides or clasp them loosely in your lap…

I want you to begin picturing the scene Neil just read… (Here’s a modern-day picture of Jericho, so you can get a flavor for the city…) Close your eyes… Picture the stone and plaster buildings around you: The narrow alleyways; the broader dirt streets; perhaps there are dung-piles here or there that haven’t been cleaned-up or swept aside yet from the horse-traffic, and the donkeys bearing their burdens, and the sheep and goats being driven to and from the market…

Hear the noises of the flapping awnings… and the horse-noises and donkey-noises and sheep- and goat-noises… Hear the voices of the people around you – some low and murmuring, others speaking and gesturing loudly: “They say He can forgive sins!” “He’s healing the blind and deaf and mute and lame!” “Could He be the Messiah, the Christ?” “EVEN THE DEMONS OBEY HIM; HE’S SETTING PEOPLE FREE!” “He just had a meal with Zacchaeus, and now Zacchaeus is sharing his money with the poor and paying back everyone he treated dishonestly! The little guy’s a new man!”

Feel the heat beating down on you as you… and the dust in your face and the grit in your teeth…

…And as Jesus and His disciples left town, a large crowd followed Him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
“Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.
But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
When Jesus heard him, He stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”
So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, He’s calling you!” Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road…

Who are you in the crowd? Are you one of the Twelve, crowding around the Lord, trying to be seen as important, one of His men? … Are you someone in the crowd, trying to get near to Him, to touch Him, if you can? … Are you Bartimaeus, so desperate – so aware of your need – that you don’t care if people give you a hard time for making a fuss? …
Because Jesus is calling to you, “Come here.” …

And He’s standing before you, and you’re standing before Him, and He says to you, “What do you want Me to do for you?” …
You think of how unfair life has been… You think of all the ways people have hurt you… You think of the sins that you just can’t get out of your life…

“What do you want Me to do for you?”
You think about the gifts you wish you had… The personality you with you had… A dream-job comes to mind… Your relationship with your husband or your wife, with your kids, with your folks…

“What do you want Me to do for you?”
He is speaking to the deep places in you… His Spirit – holy – calling out to your spirit – wounded, stained, longing…
“What do you want Me to do for you?”
…
And you followed Jesus down the road!

“All That God Requires”October 01, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Oct 17, 2017 in Sermons | Tags: God Requires, The Holy Spirt

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW 3:1-6, 13-17 [NLTse]
In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, 2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” 3 The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said,
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’”

4 John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. 5 People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. 6 And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River…

13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to talk Him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by You,” he said, “so why are You coming to me?”

15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize Him.
16 After His baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on Him. 17 And a voice from Heaven said, “This is My dearly loved Son, Who brings Me great joy.”

SERMON
This past week we’ve been reading the prophets Zechariah and Malachi, and just got into the opening chapters of the Gospel of Matthew as we’re reading through the Bible together this 2017.

Zechariah prophesied around 520 BC when the Jews were first allowed to return to the Promised Land from their years of exile in Babylon (the lands of modern-day Iraq). He prophesied mostly to encourage them in the work of rebuilding the Temple.

Malachi prophesied about a hundred years later: The Temple had been rebuilt and worship and the sacrificial system had been reestablished, but they were mixing with the nearby Samaritans and other surrounding peoples and so the LORD was being worshiped alongside other idols and powers, corruption was rampant, and the rich were taking advantage of the poor and helpless just like the wicked-old-days before they were exiled from the land! The days of Malachi were the days of Ezra and Nehemiah and their leadership and reforms.

And through the prophet Malachi the LORD condemns Israel for not recognizing His love in preserving them across their history as a nation and people, and for offering second-rate sacrifices (animals that were blind, stolen, crippled, and sick; He rages, “You wouldn’t offer such to your governor for his taxes, but you offer such to Me!”). The Levites and priests were to live reverently and “awe-inspired” before the LORD and the people, truthfully teaching Israel God’s Way, but instead they were showing favoritism in the teachings and the ways they carried out God’s Laws: Permitting the worship of other gods/idols; allowing for casual divorce; preaching to some that their sin and wickedness weren’t so bad; supporting the practice of sorcery; and turning a blind-eye to lying, withholding people’s wages, the oppression of widows and orphans; foreigners being deprived of justice; and withholding God’s full tithe from Him.

Israel and their leaders used the excuse that it was “too hard” to serve the Lord (1:13). But the LORD never intended for human beings to follow Him by our own strength and power.

The Prophet Zechariah a hundred years earlier told the Jewish governor, Zerubbabel, and high priest, Jeshua, “It is not by force nor by strength, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” (4:6) (More popularly known as, “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD.”)

And then the Lord is silent for about 400 years, letting that Word resonate in the hearts and minds of His Covenant People: “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD”…

And along comes Jesus Christ! John the Baptist doesn’t want to baptize the Lord thinking it best for Jesus to baptize him! But the Lord Jesus responds, “We must carry out all that God requires!” And now take notice: The Lord Jesus is baptized by John, and as He comes up out of the water He is baptized in the Holy Spirit!

“The life You’ve called us to is too hard for us,” the leaders of Israel cried out to the LORD. But Zechariah had told them, it’s “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD!” And the Lord Jesus tells John they must do all that God required: And Jesus is baptized in water and then baptized in the Holy Spirit! Our Father has never intended for us to live the new life He’s given us on our own: By our own strength; by our own power. We, too, must carry out all that God requires. And God requires us to be baptized in the Holy Spirit!

We need the Holy Spirit to help us in our weaknesses (Romans 8:26). We need the Holy Spirit to convicts us of our sin, opens our eyes to God’s truth, and to grant us spiritual gifts to be able to accomplish all the Father calls us to. The Holy Spirit counsels believers and guides us. Because the Holy Spirit lives within us, we can be confident asking God to help us in our times of need, and to give us the courage and grace to live as we should.

Some Christians believe that we receive the empowering baptism of the Holy Spirit when we put our trust in Christ. But that can’t be true because every single example of the Holy Spirit filling someone happens after they’ve come to faith in Jesus.

Other Christians believe that you simply have to ask and then believe you’ve received Him, even if nothing ever happens. And yet every example of the Holy Spirit filling someone in the Bible is accompanied by some manner of extraordinary event, even if those events were only experienced by the one being baptized. (Which is, of course, what happened with the Lord Jesus: Only He saw the dove, and only He clearly heard the Father’s voice. And then only He was aware of that inner-calling that drove Him into the wild places of that land for 40 days of prayer, fasting, and temptation…)

Think about what it was like for you being baptized: Whether water was poured over your head like a washing and cleansing or whether you were dunked under water like a dying and rising to new life… Baptism is the language the Bible uses to speak of being filled with God’s Spirit: The Bible speaks of it as an immersion in the life of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus says, “John immersed in water; you will be immersed in the Holy Spirit!” If we’re baptized in the Holy Spirit like we’re baptized in water, you can’t imagine the Holy Spirit merely sneaking in quietly while you are asleep and taking up residence in you unnoticed! (Of course, it may start that way, but eventually we’re going to experience “the plunge” of it all, or else Jesus and Luke would not have called it a “baptism” in the Spirit…

How do we receive the Holy Spirit? How are we baptized in the Holy Spirit? How are we filled and kept filled with the Holy Spirit?

1) Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior for your sins and commit to follow Him as the Lord of your life;
2) Be baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
3) And, seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit in prayer and with the laying on of hands of other Spirit-filled believers.

Then, once you’ve received the Holy Spirit, keep repenting and seeking the Lord (according to Psalm 51:11); don’t upset the Holy Spirit in you by saying “no” to His direction or by neglecting His promptings (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Timothy 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:19); keep praying that He would keep filling you (Ephesians 5:18); always follow the Spirit’s leadings (Galatians 5:16, 25); and, keep about that which keeps you growing spiritually, sowing to the Spirit, they say (Galatians 6:7-8).

“But for you who fear My name,” Malachi preached to those hard-hearted Israelites so long ago, “But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves led out to pasture… You will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet! (Malachi 4:2-3)
[Move to behind the Lord’s Table…]

If you do not believe you have received the Holy Spirit – that is, been baptized in the Spirit or been filled with the Holy Spirit (it all refers to the same experience) – then, publicly declare your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin and the Lord of your life by celebrating the New Covenant God has made with us by eating and drinking Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross by faith, and then, after Closing Song and Benediction, come forward and have the Elders lay hands on you that you may be filled with power from on high! (And Elders, if you’re not sure whether or not you’ve received the Holy Spirit, be first in line so that you can, in-turn, then pray for others.) Let’s ask Him for what He desires to give us. Let’s carry out all that the Lord requires. Let’s humble ourselves before the Lord so that He may lift us up!
[Go right into praying for the bread and the cup…]

“Why Wrath and Fear Are Great News!”September 24, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Oct 17, 2017 in Sermons |

THE PROPHET NAHUM 1:1-15 [NLTse]
This message concerning Nineveh came as a vision to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh.
2 The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose Him and continues to rage against His enemies! 3 The Lord is slow to get angry, but His power is great, and He never lets the guilty go unpunished. He displays His power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath His feet. 4 At His command the oceans dry up, and the rivers disappear. The lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and the green forests of Lebanon wither. 5 In His presence the mountains quake, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles, and its people are destroyed. 6 Who can stand before His fierce anger? Who can survive His burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in His presence.

7 The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him. 8 But He will sweep away His enemies in an overwhelming flood. He will pursue His foes into the darkness of night.

9 Why are you scheming against the Lord? He will destroy you with one blow; He won’t need to strike twice! 10 His enemies, tangled like thornbushes and staggering like drunks, will be burned up like dry stubble in a field. 11 Who is this wicked counselor of yours who plots evil against the Lord?

12 This is what the Lord says: “Though the Assyrians have many allies, they will be destroyed and disappear. O My people, I have punished you before, but I will not punish you again. 13 Now I will break the yoke of bondage from your neck and tear off the chains of Assyrian oppression.”

14 And this is what the Lord says concerning the Assyrians in Nineveh: “You will have no more children to carry on your name. I will destroy all the idols in the temples of your gods. I am preparing a grave for you because you are despicable!”
15 Look! A messenger is coming over the mountains with good news! He is bringing a message of peace. Celebrate your festivals, O people of Judah, and fulfill all your vows, for your wicked enemies will never invade your land again. They will be completely destroyed!

SERMON
Israel existed as an association of tribes for its first years in the Promised Land. The tribes were united into one kingdom under David, and grew wealthy beyond compare under Solomon. But Israel divided into two kingdoms – Israel in the north and Judah in the south – after Solomon died. At times the two nations were allies; at other times they were enemies.

At the time of the prophet Nahum, the northern kingdom of Israel had been wiped out, defeated and taken away as captives by the cruel and ruthless Assyrians. And just as the people of Israel had been taken away to other lands, people from other lands also conquered by the Assyrians had been brought to the lands of Israel to make a life for themselves and to keep the taxes and tribute due to the king coming.

Which all left the southern kingdom of Judah terrified!

“Did you see what they did to our cousins in Israel? It’s only a matter of time before they come for us!”
But through the prophet Nahum the Lord says, No.

“Why are you scheming against the Lord, [Assyria]? He will destroy you with one blow; He won’t need to strike twice!”
“Celebrate your festivals, O people of Judah, and fulfill all your vows, for your wicked enemies will never invade your land again. They will be completely destroyed!”

And that’s what happened.

Of course, by Jesus’ day the Assyrians have long disappeared into the history books, as have the Babylonians who conquered them, and the Persians who conquered them, and the Greeks who conquered them. During Jesus’ days and the days of the New Testament the Romans rule the world: From the British Isles in the west to Germania in the north, all the north African nations to the south over to Judea – the Promised Land – in the east. But enemies still abound with much to fear from the Lord Who is jealous for His people.

Modern folks don’t like to talk too much about this idea of “fearing the Lord”. God is love, the Bible says, and God being “angry” with His enemies, and us and they “fearing Him” accordingly, doesn’t fit very well into modern ideas about love. So many today have decided that God’s rage and wrath can’t be a part of God’s life with us and that fearing God can’t be a part of our life with God.

But such ways of thinking are merely examples of how we’ve come to judge God instead of letting Him judge us.
We ask questions like, “If God is so loving then why do bad things happen to good people?” And we ask, “How could a loving God command His people – the Israelites – to wipe out every man, woman, and child of their enemies?” “How could the Lord speak with such anger and judgment against the peoples surrounding Israel, and even speak with such anger and judgment against the Israelites – His Own people – themselves?”

Did you know that such questions and concerns about fearing God and about His anger and wrath are not at all modern? One of the earliest controversies the early Church had to face was called “Marcionism”: The idea the Old Testament God was mean, harsh, and wrath-filled, a different God altogether from the kind, patient, and loving God of the New Testament, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But the God of the Bible is one and the same.

Jeremiah prophesies: “Behold the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. (30:23) And from our reading this morning, the prophet Nahum: “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and keeps wrath for His enemies. (1:2) And yet we might say, but of course. That’s the Old Testament. But hear these words from the apostle Paul: “The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of humankind, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18) And hear these words about the Lord Jesus Christ from The Revelation to John: “From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” (Revelation 19:15)

These ideas of fearing God and His wrath and rage toward sin and sinners is clearly and widely taught in the Bible. It is so interwoven with the hope of our peace with one another and with God through the cross of Christ that if we throw away the one we lose all hope of the other.

Unfortunately, I think moderns have become so familiar with the sinful expressions of human wrath and rage, and have so associated the idea of fear with that of cowering, that we have forgotten that when we speak about the “wrath of God” that it is the wrath of God. That is, everything we know about God—His fairness, His love, His goodness—needs to be poured into and made part and parcel of our understanding of His rage and wrath and what it means to fear Him.
Maybe you have suffered because of someone who is habitually angry, losing their temper, or flying into a rage. Human anger can often be unpredictable, petty, and disproportionate. But none of these things are true of the anger of God. God’s wrath is the just and measured response of His holiness toward evil.

Proverbs 24:12 says, “Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and He sees you. He Who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.” And the good news is, He knows when we didn’t know, too.

So, God’s wrath is rightly feared because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) God’s wrath is rightly feared because we are fairly condemned sinners apart from Christ. (Romans 5:1) God’s wrath is rightly feared because He is powerful enough to do what He promises. (Jeremiah 32:17) God’s wrath is rightly feared because God promises eternal punishment apart from Jesus Christ. (Matthew 25:46) (The Bible speaks of the wrath of God as God giving people over to their excesses and addictions and scheming and wickedness: To do to others and to live in fear of others doing it to they themselves. And the Bible pictures Hell, that final result of God’s rage and wrath against sin, as being a place “where their worm never dies” and as a fiery place of horrible suffering… And for our sin and selfishness and our rejection of God as God, that is what every human being deserves.

Which is what makes the good news so marvelously good:
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). Because of Christ sacrifice on the cross and His serving our punishment there, God can rightly say that He’s made sinners innocent of their sin. (Romans 3:26) Justice has been served, and there is second punishment. Yes, in Christ God has lived a sinless life which no other human being could ever do, and He has done what we didn’t deserve: Taking our sins upon Himself and giving His righteousness to us.
Charles Wesley was right to explode in praise: “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior’s blood? Died He for me, Who caused His pain! For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for for me? Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”

Our closing song is “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.” As we sing about our weakness and God’s power, as we sing about “the crystal fountain”, “the healing stream” He’s provided for us in Christ’s sacrifice to wash us clean of every mar and sin, if you want to stand where you are – or come forward – to commit yourself anew to the Bread of Heaven, our Strong Deliverer, He is worth it! Come, you are welcome at His throne of grace!

“Does God Love Men More Than Women”September 17, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Sep 25, 2017 in Sermons | Tags: Finding God Love, God's Love for Man, God's Love for Women

Scripture Reading
MATTHEW 26:1-13 [NLTse]
When Jesus had finished [telling some parables about the Kingdom of Heaven and His final return], He said to His disciples, 2 “As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

3 At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, 4 plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”

6 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. 7 While He was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over His head. 8 The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said. 9 “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”

10 But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to Me? 11 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. 12 She has poured this perfume on Me to prepare My body for burial. 13 I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”

SERMON – “DOES GOD CARE MORE ABOUT MEN THAN ABOUT WOMEN?”
Twice before, in the 21 years I’ve been your pas-tor have I preached someone else’s words in place of my own here in the Pulpit: I once shared a chapter from a Max Lucado book, and I once read the entire Sermon On the Mount. This morning makes three.

Sheila Gregoire hosts a website called, tolovehonorandvacuum.com. The following are Sheila’s words slightly tweaked by me to make them easier for me to share…

Every now and then I receive an email that makes my heart hurt. Recently I got this one, from a woman who is looking at the Bible, and looking around at her church, and finding herself wondering if God really loves women. In her email she asked me:

So, I have a question that’s going to sound horrible but it’s just honest. Does God care more about men than He does women? I mean God started out making only Adam, and then He made Eve to be Adam’s helper, but only because He decided it wasn’t good for the man to be alone. So then He makes women, who are weaker than men, so they cannot defend themselves. He makes them have all these feelings so they will always care about their men and their children. He makes their most important aspect to be beauty which fades with age and childbearing. The men however, God makes to be strong and to have little to no feelings at all. And He made them to all want women other than the woman they have.

It seems to me that the only time God got mad at King David was when David took another man’s wife, and God compared that to David stealing a lamb, a piece of property! … I mean the whole Bible seems to say these kinds of things. And yet, women tend to be more religious than men! In a world where every religion thinks less of women! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as though I think God doesn’t care about women, but maybe He just cares less?

I’m glad this woman asked these questions, be-cause I think they are all questions that many women struggle or have struggled with. (And perhaps many men, as well.) Asking questions can feel uncomfortable, but God is big enough to defend Himself! And when we do ask we often grew closer to Him as a result!

So today I’d just like to take each of my email writer’s comments – point by point – and respond.

First, she writes, “He made Adam first,” and in that she seems to be asking, “So is male the preferred gender, the default?”
Actually, if you take Genesis 1 and 2 seriously, perhaps gender didn’t come into humanity until after Eve was created: That is, perhaps Adam was first made genderless (or gender-full, depending on how you want to look at it), and that only after the Lord took Adam’s “rib” to make Eve, only then: “Male and female” He created them.

But even if that’s not entirely accurate, it’s very clear that both male and female are in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says, ? “So God created man-kind in His Own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”
And we see God using feminine imagery to refer to Himself at times, as Jesus uses here in Matthew 23:37: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem: You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you. How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”

The email goes on: “Eve was only made to be Adam’s ‘helper.’”Yes, she was. But the idea of “helper” does not carry the idea of inferiority in the Scriptures. The Hebrew word is “ezer”. “Ezer” is used 21 times in the Old Testament: 16 of those times it’s referring directly to God Himself as being our “helper”! (And God is obviously not inferior to us!)

Another key Genesis gives us to understand the helper/ezer Eve was to be to Adam is the very next word in that passage, suitable: Eve was made to be a suitable helper to Adam. The help woman was to give to the man was the kind of help Adam actually needed in order to accomplish the tasks God had given him; the idea being that Adam couldn’t fulfill all that the Lord has called him to without Eve. (“Partner” is the word some more recent translations have begun using to help make the idea more clear.)

The writer goes on, “And women are weaker than men.” Yes, women are often physically weaker, but women were also created to endure more pain than men and to live longer than men, so it doesn’t make sense that merely being weaker physically means that God made them lesser, inferior…

(Of course, women are susceptible to attack far more than men are. And yet God also created men with one part of their bodies which, if you kick it right, can bring them to their knees howling in pain.)

The email goes on: “God makes women have all these feelings so that they will care about their men and their children.”
Women loving their husbands and their children is a blessing! Yet, what the writer seems to be getting at here is that women too often are martyrs for their husbands and children, caring about them so much that the women are more vulnerable to being taken advantage of and being repeatedly and sometimes emotionally and abusively hurt.
And that’s true. But it’s not the way women were created to be. That’s a part of the curse, in the same way that Adam finding the ground hard to farm is part of the curse.

Genesis 3:16 says: “To the woman [God] said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to chil-dren. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Now, some versions of the Bible actually mistranslate this verse and give it a really ugly slant. Some translate it to say that “women’s desire will be to control her husband,” but that idea is not in the Hebrew, and that interpretation was never made before 1974, when Bible commentator Susan Foh popularized it.

That being said, the interpretation itself makes no logical sense. In the context of Genesis 3 God is giving a list of curses: 1) You’ll have pain in childbirth; 2) you’ll desire your husband to your own detriment; 3) he will rule over you. If Susan Foh’s translation (which is now widely accepted) is correct then a sin becomes part of a list of curses: You have a curse (pain in childbirth), and then a sin (the woman’s desire to control her husband), followed by a curse (he will rule over you).
The Hebrew, however, points to a straightfor-ward, traditional interpretation: That is, women have loved men and put up with men who treated them sinfully, and women have been subject to that abuse in their quest for love and belonging since the Beginning.

The letter goes on: “God makes a woman’s most important quality to be beauty which fades.”
Women’s beauty is prized far too much in our society. Shoot, women are judged on their beauty! And they judge themselves harshly on it, too!

Yet nowhere does God say that a woman’s most important characteristic is beauty. In fact, the Bible clearly says otherwise. Proverbs 31:30 says, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Yeah, God never says that beauty is a woman’s most important characteristic. Our culture does, and our culture has been thoroughly shaped by humanities’ Fall into sin…

The email says: “God makes men emotionally strong with little to no feelings.”
I’m not sure this is a benefit! Yes, men do tend to be more compartmentalized, and not as multitasking as women, which means that men can separate work from relationships more. Men do seem to have a harder time, in general, getting in touch with their feelings. And this may appear to be a benefit, since the person who is more emotionally dependent seems at a disadvantage in a relationship, and it can seem as if women are always the ones searching for connection. Yet research shows that those who are able to express their feelings live longer and live more contented lives. And women do tend to have closer relationships than men, especially with their children! So, I think this to each woman’s benefit.
“God made men to want women other than the one they have,” she goes on.

And, it does certainly seem that way: Men don’t seem to be as monogamous as women. Yet research, again, doesn’t necessarily bear this out. One recent large scale international study found that 63% of men and 45% of women reported cheating at least once. But I’ve seen other studies that report women cheating more than men, especially among certain groups (like university-educated women who work outside the home).

In the past men have tended to cheat more, but that may be because they had more opportunity, since they were away from home more and mingling with single women more. Women, who were largely at home may not have had as much chance. But when the chance is greater, as it seems to be with working women, it seems that women cheat just as often, or more…

“The only time God got mad at King David,” she goes on, “was when David stole another man’s wife–and He compared her to a stolen lamb, as though she was property.”

Yes, God did get mad at David for having an affair, and then arranging to have the woman’s hus-band killed. But this wasn’t the only time God got angry with David. In fact, the time that God let His wrath really go was when David got all puffed-up and prideful, counting and boasting in the size of his armies rather than relying on God. And with that the Lord brought massive calamity against all of Israel because of it. (2 Samuel 24)

And, yes, the prophet Nathan did compare Bathsheba to a lamb, but not as though she were “just property”. Nathan compared her to a lamb that was loved, and treasured so much so that it even slept in bed with its master! (I’m not trying to say that women want to be compared to even the most beloved sheep; just making the point that the comparison is not as straightforward as saying that God thought the woman was her husband’s property.)

When looking at marriage in the Old Testament, we need to understand that God permitted things He didn’t agree with. The Israelites lived in a society dominated by men, and where having multiple wives was accepted. The fact that the Hebrew forefathers Abraham and Jacob had multiple wives does not mean that God approved of or wanted that. In fact, God designed humans to be one-man, one-woman creatures. In Genesis 2:24, God says: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

And in the New Testament we see monogamy being reclaimed. 1 Timothy requires that the leaders of the church be monogamous. Marriage is set up as a beautiful institution between only two people. But that was not how it was seen in the Old Testament, and it is doubtful that much romantic-love existed in that day, as much as we may try to read it into some of the stories. Ancient Israel’s was a very different culture from ours today, and we ought to have compassion for the women of the time who were disre-garded, and for the men of that time who never knew much intimacy. (King David claimed that he felt closer to his best friend, Jonathan, than with any of his wives! It just shows how badly they had gotten marriage wrong from God’s original intentions.)

So, let’s remember that the Old Testament is a description of what happened, not a prescription of what God always wants us to follow…

“And yet, women tend to be more religious than men,” my writer writes.
Yes, women do! I think it’s that “last shall be first, and first shall be last” thing. When you aren’t as strong, you recognize your need for God more. When you are more emotional and relational, you yearn for more intimacy. Ladies: You should be grateful God made you this way!

The email ends, “It’s not like I think He doesn’t care for women, but maybe He just cares less.”
No. I don’t believe that at all. I think the Bible tells us that God loves, adores, prizes, and treasures women! To prove it, let me end with this:
• Do you know to whom God first revealed that Jesus would be born? Mary, His mom, a woman.
• Do you know to whom Jesus first revealed that He was the Son of God? The Samaritan woman at the well.
• Do you know whom Jesus said would be al-ways remembered on account of their devotion to Him? A woman, the one from our reading who poured out the priceless ointment over Jesus’ head.
• Do you know to whom Jesus first revealed Himself after He was raised and had conquered Death? The women who came to His grave.
• Do you know whom Jesus appointed as the first missionary of the gospel? The first person He called to tell everyone He was alive? Mary Magdalene, a woman.
In the culture of Jesus’ day where women’s testimony was not worth as much as men’s, where women were largely ignored and looked down upon, the Lord Jesus went out of His way to honor women and give them key roles in spreading the good news about Him.

Girls, Ladies: God doesn’t care about you less; He has lifted you up and is lifting you up to where society would never let you be apart from Him! Don’t ever let anyone tell you that Jesus doesn’t love women as much as men. It is a lie; it is intended to drive a wedge between you, women, and God and make you feel helpless and hopeless.
Girls; Ladies: Jesus loves you as a woman! Jesus delights in you as a woman! And that is beautiful indeed!

“A Tale of Two Sins”September 10, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Sep 12, 2017 in Sermons | Tags: Everyone sins, Forgiveness of Sin Through Jesus, Jesus Died for Our Sin, Only through Christ are you forgiven

SERMON
THE PROPHET HOSEA 14:1-9 [NLTse]
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down. 2 Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises. 3 Assyria cannot save us, nor can our warhorses. Never again will we say to the idols we have made, ‘You are our gods.’ No, in You alone do the orphans find mercy.”
4 The Lord says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; My love will know no bounds, for My anger will be gone forever. 5 I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. 6 Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. 7 My people will again live under My shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.
8 “O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the One Who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from Me.”
9 Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.

SERMON
How many of us, here (don’t raise your hands), believe that human beings are basically good, but sometimes we make mistakes (we “sin” the Bible calls it) and so, sometimes, we need Jesus’ forgiveness and help. (Again, please don’t raise your hands, or anything.)

With that question in mind, let me read to us all from Ephesians (a letter Paul wrote to the Christians who were living in Ephesus, Greece, at that time). Paul writes: “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.” (2:1-3) And then Paul goes on to write about the change Christ brings into people’s lives when we trust in Him.

So, God the Holy Spirit (through Paul) says that before we put our trust in Jesus that you and I were dead because of our disobeying God and because of our sins. He says that everyone in the world is like that: Dead because of disobeying God and because of sin. Either people are “living” obeying Jesus or people are “dead”, obeying the devil and refusing to obey God. (But even those who are alive and obeying Jesus were at one time dead, obeying the devil and refusing to obey God.)

The Holy Spirit (through Paul) talks about life before Christ a different way in Romans (the letter Paul wrote to the Christians who lived in Rome, Italy at that time). He says, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies. Snake venom drips from their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace. They have no fear of God at all.” (3:10-18)

Notice that the Bible isn’t talking, here, about evil, wicked people. The Bible is talking, here, about all people. “No one is righteous.” “No one is seeking God.” “All have turned away.” “All have become useless.” “No one does good.”
But then a person – you or me, perhaps – puts their trust in Jesus Christ: “I believe Jesus conquered death and was resurrected from the dead; I believe Jesus is God, God’s one and only Son; I believe He died to serve the punishment I deserve for my sins; I believe that He loves me and is good and that He has a good plan for my life; I believe I can trust Him, and that He’ll be with me always to comfort and guide me…”

And something happens after a person – you or me, perhaps – puts their trust in Jesus: God forgives that person for all the sins they’ve ever done, are doing, and will ever do in the future, and from that point forward God looks at that Christian and treats that Christian as though they had never ever done anything wrong but had always behaved perfectly! (God forgiving us all of our sins – past, present, and future – is called being “justified” because of our faith, and God always looking upon us as though we were absolutely perfect-in-every-way is called being “sanctified” in His eyes.)

So, that’s how God thinks about us and that’s how God looks upon us. (Such amazing grace. Such amazing love.)
But you and I know, even though we have believed in Jesus, that we still sin and we are still far from perfect. Yes, God looks at us and treats us as though we had never sinned and were perfect (we have been justified, we have been sanctified) but there’s another kind of sanctification than just the way God looks at us. There’s a kind of sanctification that has to do with how much we’re sinning today as opposed to how much we were sinning yesterday or the day before or the year before that. And that’s a process. We are fully sanctified in God’s eyes, but we are being sanctified day by day: That is, we are sinning less today than yesterday or last year as we trust God more and more and obey Him more on account of our growing faith.

You see, Christians will always be sinners. The Bible says in 1 John, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.” (1:8) The Bible says that to the one reading it who is not yet a Christian, to the one reading it who has just become a Christian, and to the one reading it who just turned 100 and has been a Christian their whole life! “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.”

Our whole lives long there will always be temptations we give in to. There will always be better days and worse days. And, as we grow closer to the Lord year after year after year of trusting in Him, we will grow in understanding sin better and better and see sins in ourselves that we never had noticed being a part of our lives before.

I share this all with you today because we Christians seem to tend towards two different attitudes about sin: Either we don’t take sin very seriously, thinking we’re not so bad, that sinning is not so bad, and so we never make much progress against our sinful ways and hurtful habits; or, when we realize we’ve sinned it’s as though the world has come to the end and we live in fear of ever being discovered and think we’re no good and believe we could never be loved by God because we’re so foul.

But, both of these attitudes are twisted. The Christian who doesn’t think he or she is so bad doesn’t understand what it’s like to die on a cross. Jesus suffered horribly on the cross. Crucifixion is one of the sickest ways human beings have ever devised to kill each other. And if the perfect Lord Jesus Christ had to die that kind of horrible, torturous death for our sin, then our sin must be horrible and torturous (whether we think so or not)!

The Christian who thinks he or she is an abomination each and every time they sin hasn’t understood the cross, either. Because the perfect Lord Jesus died a horrible, torturous death there, and He did not die a horrible and torturous death so that we could continue to beat up on ourselves and hate and condemn ourselves and refuse to forgive ourselves for our sins. No, He died a horrible and torturous death so that we would be assured that He had indeed served the punishment for our sins, so that we would be confident that we’ve been forgiven and live grateful to Him forever because of it!

“God is Speaking, Are We Listening?”September 03, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Sep 12, 2017 in Sermons | Tags: God Speaking, Hearing God, Listening for God, Speaking to Jesus, Talking to God

SERMON
THE PROPHET DANIEL 7:1-13 [NLTse]
Earlier, during the first year of King Belshazzar’s reign in Babylon, Daniel had a dream and saw visions as he lay in his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is what he saw. 2 In my vision that night, I, Daniel, saw a great storm churning the surface of a great sea, with strong winds blowing from every direction. 3 Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.
4 The first beast was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off, and it was left standing with its two hind feet on the ground, like a human being. And it was given a human mind.
5 Then I saw a second beast, and it looked like a bear. It was rearing up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And I heard a voice saying to it, “Get up! Devour the flesh of many people!”
6 Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard. It had four bird’s wings on its back, and it had four heads. Great authority was given to this beast.
7 Then in my vision that night, I saw a fourth beast—terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts, and it had ten horns.
8 As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.
9 I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, His hair like purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, 10 and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from His presence. Millions of angels ministered to Him; many millions stood to attend Him. Then the court began its session, and the books were opened.
11 I continued to watch because I could hear the little horn’s boastful speech. I kept watching until the fourth beast was killed and its body was destroyed by fire. 12 The other three beasts had their authority taken from them, but they were allowed to live a while longer.
13 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of Heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into His presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey Him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

SERMON: “God Is Speaking – Are You Listening?”
What a wonderful and terrible week! Among the wonderful things: Those of you reading through the Bible this year with the daily readings from our Worship Bulletins and The Daily Walk Devotional read of the many different ways God uses to speak to people to get our attention and grant us direction. We’ve read of God giving messages in dreams to unbelievers for believers to help them understand, of His writing messages on a wall (literally) to have believers help the unbelievers understand, and of giving and explaining dreams and visions to us believers personally as a way of helping us be ready for the future He’s bringing…

Of course, among the terrible things this week was the never-ending storm and its path of destruction along the Texas coast. And yet, even there, as we were just sharing about in our prayers, the Lord has been speaking and revealing Himself, His plans, and His purposes to those who are watching and listening…

Across the Bible we see the Lord speaking to His people through dreams: To reveal His plans, to further His plans, and to put His people into positions and places of influence. For instance, the LORD reminded Abraham of the covenant they’d made together using a dream. The Lord protected Abraham’s wife, Sarah, by giving Abraham’s enemy, Abimelech, a dream. Joseph (of “Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” fame) dreamed and could interpret the dreams of others. His unwisely sharing his own dreams got him into trouble with his family, and his interpreting others dreams got him promoted to the prime minister-ship of Egypt where God used him to not only save the nation of Egypt through a crippling famine but also to save Joseph’s own family, providing for God’s promises to continue being fulfilled.

The prophet Samuel was given his first vision as a young boy (kids, take note: God loves you and wants to be close to you and speaking to you these ways, too), and Samuel was eventually led to anoint David king of Israel! God spoke to King Solomon in a dream that set the course for Solomon’s effective years of leadership. Of course, Daniel, as we read this past week, had many dreams and visions himself and was used by God to interpret the dreams of many others, which elevated him to positions of great influence for God, even while he was in foreign lands living among unbelievers. (Kind of like many of our situations today.) But this was not a merely Old Testament phenomenon.

Do you remember that Mary’s husband, Joseph, was given dreams to guide him towards marrying Mary and to protecting Jesus by having them escape slaughter by fleeing to Egypt? Pontius Pilate’s wife was given dreams she shared with her husband at the time of Jesus’ trial. The Gentile, Cornelius, was given a dream leading him to invite the apostle Peter to his home, and Peter was given a vision that led him to go to Cornelius’ and to share the good news with Cornelius’ whole household, and they became the first non-Jewish Christians! And, of course, the entire Book of Revelation is one vision – one waking dream – after another that’s been encouraging Christians to live by faith and stay the course and to trust God and remain faithful ever since.

And God used one natural disaster after another to lead the Israelites in “exodus” out of their slavery in Egypt. And He used wind and flooding to help Israel conquer militarily-superior enemies. And used year-after-year of drought to show those who worshiped the false-god Baal that He – the LORD, the great I AM – alone was truly the Almighty and the only god deserving of human worship! And He used the movement of the Earth and the heavenly bodies around our solar system and galaxy to announce to the Wise Men the birth of Jesus Christ. And used an eclipse and torrential rain and an earthquake to draw attention to Jesus’ death on the cross paying the penalty for sin and bringing us back from being separated from God.

God is speaking! All Heaven declares the wonders of the risen Lord! And yet, not every dream or vision is from our Father (though I do believe the Lord is making at least a point in every storm and natural disaster). But with that said, not every dream-interpreter speaks God’s truth, nor is every so-called prophet true when preaching and prophesying the imminent end of the world…

But our Father is speaking to us, and wants us to understand what He’s saying! Are we listening? And do we truly feel able to understand, especially when He’s speaking in such unconventional ways?

Job’s friend, Elihu, says this about the Lord: “God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears…” (Job 33:14-16) And the apostle Peter quoted the Word the LORD gave the prophet Joel, that, “In the last days, I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17 quoting Joel 2:28) And in the context of that promise, the Lord is clearly speaking to Peter and to Joel about more than just young men and old men being given His visions and dreams.

Does anybody here dream alot? … As I’ve already said, not every dream we have is God-given. Some weird dreams seem to be just the after-effects of having eaten something weird. ? Other dreams seem to merely be the overflow of our mind not being able to stop after a busy day. Other dreams seem to be “purging dreams” where our minds replay the day’s events and work through all the emotions we – in those moments of the day – pushed aside. Of course, dreams can also be from Satan. (The enemy of our souls isn’t ignorant of the power of visions.) But, when we start to be more aware of our dreams as perhaps being from the Lord, we may find He is seeking to speak to us in such ways more than we thought…

Dreams and visions (and visions are simply dreams that we are given while we are awake) are primarily made up of symbolic images and allegorical circumstances: That is, a beast might represent a kingdom, or a tree might represent a kingdom; a star might represent a human or an angelic messenger; and the Lord walking among a bunch of menorah might represent God’s presence with His worldwide Church; etc…

In your dreams the Lord will use symbols that are familiar and personal to you and your understanding, and yet He might also use universal symbols that can be found in the Scriptures to get His message through to you. God customizes our dreams for each of us specifically. For instance, two people have dreams about their fathers. If one of them had a good relationship with their dad, their father in their dream might represent the Lord. If the other person had a bad relationship with their dad, their father in their dream might represent their own anger (that their dad stirred up or left behind), or, likewise, bitterness, or even hurts…

Of course, anything God says, whether through a dream, vision, impression, or “still small voice,” will always agree completely with what He has already revealed to us in His Word. Dreams do not have more authority than Scripture. Compare the content of your dream and its message to the Bible; if anything seems to contradict God’s Word or His nature, it is wise to disregard the dream—even if the dream comes true. The enemy can and will bring dreams to pass in the hopes of tempting us to put more faith in our dreams than in God’s Word. (And then use future dreams to lure us from the Lord.) (I know I horribly sad story about a woman who asked God for a baby, but when the Lord miraculously made her pregnant, on account of a dream, she aborted the baby, and in her upset, divorced her husband, and has been living in pain and misery ever since.)

But let me say this to all of us with regard to those dreams that God is giving us to reveal His plans to us and our place in those plans. First, know that ninety-five percent of dream-material refers to the dreamer rather than to anyone who might be being dreamed about. One of the greatest dangers in dream-interpretation is thinking that you’re getting guidance for other people. Almost always it’s about you.

So, when you dream about your husband or your wife, know that the dream may not necessarily be referring to your mate.
The message may be about what you, the dreamer, are “married to” emotionally or spiritually. Likewise, when other people are in our dreams, those persons are almost always a part of us being represented in our dreams by these others…
An often helpful procedure for hearing what God may be trying to say through our dreams is something like this:
First, write down your dream immediately upon waking up, if you can. (Interrupt your sleep to write it down, if necessary. Turn on a light. Get a pen and piece of paper. And write it down.) Some Christians who dream a lot keep a pen, pad, and bedside lamp nearby just for this purpose.

Second, write down the big events going on in your life right then. Include any major fears or worries you’re aware of being tempted by. (This context is helpful as you talk to others and pray in seeking to understand your dream.)
Then, talk the dream out with a trusted person. Let their questions, ideas, and insights add wisdom to interpreting your dream. (Notice I said “add wisdom”. Their insights and ideas might not be right. And yet they may be, or they may help you move towards God’s truth about it all.)
If there were symbols or images in your dream that are a mystery to you (because sometimes we know as soon as we wake up what this or that person or event stood for), look up the symbols that confuse you – those analogies and images that seem so strange – in your Bible. How does the Lord use those symbols and similar situations? You can also visit websites that deal with symbols and imagery. (You want to conduct this research prayerfully and sharing your findings with that trusted friend, because there’s a lot of folks out there that want to be known for interpreting dreams, but their work and messages are only from themselves and not from the Lord.)

After you’ve done all this homework and research, take the significant insights, leadings, and questions you’ve gathered to prayer. Meditate on these things. Ask the Lord to speak to you, to guide your thoughts, to reveal that which is still hidden. Since working to interpret dreams is not the same as God giving someone the gift of interpreting dreams, after all you’ve done the Lord may reveal things completely to you, but even if not, you can trust that, if you’ve been diligent, He will reveal to you that which He most wants you to understand.

The LORD is speaking, my brothers and sisters! He wants to reveal to us what He alone knows about us and the plans He has for us. No other god, no other power, no other force has ever shown themselves so willing to be known by, heard by, and be close with His people. No other god has shown Himself to be like this God and Father of our Lord Jesus Who gave His one and only Son to die for our sins so that we might be brought near, and get to live with Him, now and forever!

“Love Lost & Found”August 20, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Aug 22, 2017 in Sermons | Tags: finding God's Love, lost and found, Love, Prayer, Relationship With God

THE PROPHET EZEKIEL 16:1-15 [NLTse]
Then another message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins. 3 Give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. 5 No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.

6 “But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ 7 And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. 8 And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped My cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared My marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Lord, and you became Mine.

9 “Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. 10 I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. 11 I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, 12 a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. 13 And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! 14 Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in My splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord.
15 “But you thought your fame and beauty were your own…

SERMON – Part 1
You know, you were nothing but a… No one was interested in you. No one pitied you. No one truly cared for you. You were unwanted. Dumped…
But God saw you… Yes, God saw you. He commanded you, “Live. Live!”
And He helped you to thrive. And you grew. And you were a treasure!
And the LORD declared His love for you. And the LORD made Marriage Vows with you and entered into a Covenant with you. And you were His!

And He gave you good times and good feelings; and He gave you what you needed when you needed it; and He promised He would always be with you and that you would always be with Him; and He showed you how to turn the other cheek and how to overcome evil with good and promised you power to accomplish all that He would ever call you to; and He assured you of absolute security – forever, for always – through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
But you made it all about you.
You lost your “first love”.

This idea of losing our “first love” comes from the Bible’s Book of Revelation. After showing Himself alive to John the apostle in a fireworks display of sound and lights in a vision, the Lord Jesus – conqueror of Death and raised from the dead – dictates to John seven letters to be delivered to seven local churches that were representative of all churches across all Time. And to the church in Ephesus, the Lord Jesus said, “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not… You have patiently suffered for Me without quitting.

“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love Me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to Me and do the works you did at first.”

Do you remember when the Lord was first pursuing you with His wonderful, making-everything-new love? Of course, then He moved into your life. And you found out He wanted to take up an incredible amount of your space! He started turning everything upside-down and inside out. He wanted you to share everything with Him. He wanted you to talk to Him. He wanted you to consult Him about all your decisions. He was always there, always watching, demanding everything!
But it was okay because it was so new and so exhilarating to be so wanted, so loved, so treasured and sought after by… by God! It wasn’t ever necessarily comfortable. It didn’t always feel easy, or cozy. His love demanded everything! And it sure didn’t feel so very miraculous when He was busy rearranging your entire life! But, O, to be so loved! …
Over time you got used to it. It happens sometimes with love. Fast-forward a few years and you’ve gotten used to God. He’s always around. And you can hardly remember what it felt like to be without Him, you can hardly remember a time when you didn’t know God’s love. You get used to it. You start to take Him for granted…

And now, sometimes, you struggle holding on to the truth that He loves you because He has hurt you, too, along the way. You’ve heard the words, “God loves you and He has a wonderful plan for your life!” But you’ve looked around, and maybe it seems to you that your life’s not all that wonderful. And you wonder, how can a loving God, an all-powerful God, let this bad stuff happen? And you struggle wondering how to keep on trusting in the love of this God when you’re so disappointed? So disappointed in Him; so disappointed in yourself…

Marriage experts want to make sure we all understand that love grows: It twists and changes to keep up with and make room for the new discoveries that our lives together across the years reveal to us about each other. Our relationship with Abba can’t go back to the rush and zealous thrills of that fullness of time when we were born again – made new as we trusted in Christ Jesus! We know too much – about God, about ourselves – we know too much to go backwards to those ignorant, “holy-high” days. No. But we can go back to that “first love”.

TO THE ROMANS 5:6-11 [NLTse]
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

SERMON – Part 2
On the cross the Lord Jesus made us friends. On the cross the Lord Jesus made us children. On the cross the Lord Jesus made us lovers. We don’t need to seek after pleasure. We don’t need to scurry for possessions. We don’t need to scratch for position. We don’t need to strive after power. We don’t need to sue for protection. All of this is ours as we put our faith in Jesus Christ each day.
But do we believe that?
Do you believe that?

Everything we need – all that we were made for – we’ve been given in Jesus Christ.
Meditate on that as you begin the long commute to work and see if the Holy Spirit doesn’t deal with your road rage.
Meditate on that when facing the bullies in school or at work and see if the Holy Spirit doesn’t grant you the grace to overcome.

Meditate on that in your conflicts with your husband or wife or children or parents and see if the Holy Spirit doesn’t bring you to your knees and to repentance.

O how He loves you and me… O how He loves you and me… He gave His life, what more could He give? O how He loves you; O how He loves me; O how He loves you and me…
It’s not about you or me bringing about change in ourselves. It’s about letting ourselves be transformed by the truth and power of His love.
[If you want to cooperate with Him in that way, see How To Fall In Love With God All Over Again

“Losing to Win”August 13, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Aug 16, 2017 in Sermons |

The Prophet Jeremiah 21:1-10 [NLTse]
The Lord spoke through Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to speak with him. They begged Jeremiah, 2 “Please speak to the Lord for us and ask him to help us. King Nebuchadnezzar[a] of Babylon is attacking Judah. Perhaps the Lord will be gracious and do a mighty miracle as he has done in the past. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw his armies.”

3 Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him, 4 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will make your weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians[b] who are outside your walls attacking you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the heart of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made me furious! 6 I will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will die. 7 And after all that, says the Lord, I will hand over King Zedekiah, his staff, and everyone else in the city who survives the disease, war, and famine. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their other enemies. He will slaughter them and show them no mercy, pity, or compassion.’
8 “Tell all the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Take your choice of life or death! 9 Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life! 10 For I have decided to bring disaster and not good upon this city, says the Lord. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.’

SERMON – “Losing To Win”
Has anyone here ever heard the name Hiroo Onoda? Hiroo Onoda was a lieutenant in the Japanese army and served during World War II. He was the last Japanese soldier to surrender at the end of the War. World War II ended in 1945. Lt. Onoda surrendered in 1974!
Onoda was stationed on Lubang Island in the Philippines when it was taken over by U.S. forces in February of 1945. Almost all of his comrades were killed or captured, but Onoda and several others hid deep in the jungle there. He and his men had been ordered by their superiors to maintain their assignment until they received specific orders otherwise. Having never received such orders, their strict adherence to the Japanese military code of discipline and honor kept them at their post. And while all of his fellow evaders were eventually killed, Onoda held out for 29 years, dismissing every attempt to coax him out of the jungle as a trick!

Finally, in 1974, the Japanese government sent Onoda’s former commanding officer to Lubang to order Onoda to surrender. When Lieutenant Onoda stepped out of the jungle to accept the order, he was wearing his dress uniform, had his officer’s sword strapped to his side, with his rifle still in good working condition!

This past week we read Jeremiah chapters 21-40 (those of us reading through the Bible together in 2017). In our reading, the Lord has given the prophet Jeremiah a clear message for the king, the leaders, and the people of Israel: Surrender to the Babylonian army, let them take you away into exile in foreign lands, and live; or, keep fighting, and be destroyed. As you might imagine, there is huge opposition to the Word of the Lord Jeremiah has been called to proclaim. Many among the nobility and priesthood, even other so-called prophets, are arguing that God would never let them suffer defeat: They are His people! The LORD would never let Jerusalem be destroyed: God’s Temple is there! As a matter of fact, several other prophets begin preaching that the Babylonians would be driven away and that all the damage Babylon had done to Israel, and everything they had plundered, would be restored within two years! Jeremiah responds, “I wish that was true, but it’s not going to happen. We either surrender or we die.”
God calls us – all humanity, and His Own precious people – to surrender, too.

Of course, “surrender” is a military term. It is when one gives all their rights over to the opposition. When an army surrenders, they lay down their weapons, and the other side takes control of them from then on. Their life and their welfare is in the others’ hands…
Surrendering to God works the same way. The Lord tells us we are sinners, that is, rebels: Rebelling against Him, rebelling against the way He made us to live, and rebelling against the plans He has for our lives. So, surrendering to Him means believing that we are sinners and accepting the sacrifice of Jesus as His way for getting right with Him again. Surrendering to Him means believing He has a way for us to live that is different from how we’re living, and so trading-in what we want to say and do for what He wants us to say and do. (That’s repentance.) And, surrendering to Him means believing He has a plan for our lives, and so setting aside our own plans in order to eagerly seek His.

One pastor defined “surrendering to God” this way:
• Following God’s leading even though you don’t know where He’s sending you;
• Waiting and trusting in God’s timing even when you’re not sure how long it might be or what it will bring;
• Expecting a miracle even knowing it’s impossible to come;
• Trusting God’s purposes even when your circumstances make no sense.
You know you’re surrendered to God when you rely on Him to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda, and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don’t have to always be in charge. Instead of trying harder, you trust more.
Genuine surrender says, “Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed to fulfill Your purpose and glory in my life or in another’s life, please don’t take it away!”

Oswald Chambers in his famous devotional My Utmost For His Highest says that true surrender is only for Jesus’ sake and the sake of the Good News. Surrendering to Christ must not be done for what we might get out of it. For example, we might say, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin; because I want to be made holy.” And, of course, being delivered from sin and being made holy will be the result of being right with God, but our motive for surrender shouldn’t be for any personal gain. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself! It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want You, but I do want the good things you have.” Gaining Heaven, being delivered from sin, being made useful to God… these are all good things, but should never be a consideration in genuine surrender. At the heart of genuine, total surrender is our wanting nothing but Jesus Christ Himself…

(Of course, the great news about surrender is that God does have good plans and good things for us. He conquers us in order to bless us.)

The first step to surrendering our lives to Christ is perhaps the hardest. In the cross, His resurrection from the dead, and Jesus’ ascension to Heaven to send the Holy Spirit and intercede for us – in all of that – is an invitation to each of us to surrender to, and walk through life with, the Creator of the universe and the Savior of sinners. Will we accept such an invitation by accepting the sacrifice and lordship of Jesus Christ?

If we will, then, can we stop striving and start abiding? I see and hear so many Christian folk saying, “I’m striving to be God’s man;” “I’m striving to be a godly woman.” And, I don’t judge these folks but, Psalm 46:8 says so clearly, “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (NASB). At the heart of surrendering is letting go of trying to make God’s things happen in our lives. We don’t have to strive to make ourselves be a certain way or our lives turn out a certain way. We just have to abide in Him (John 15).

And a part of “abiding” is facing what comes to us God’s way. Ask yourself, “Are you living life on your terms, or are you living it on the Lord’s terms?” If He says, “Get rid of anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth,” do you say, “Yeah, Lord, but…”? If He says, “Be anxious for nothing,” do you say, “Yeah, Lord, but…”?

In today’s world, our relationship with God might cost us our family, our friends, our job, and, in some extreme cases, our lives! Will we surrender our wants and our will – that hinders us from having a better relationship with Jesus Christ – and seek to abide by living according to His will?

Andrew and Simon Peter, James and John, Matthew the tax-collector… they all surrendered everything to follow Jesus Christ. (They didn’t give everything away, they just gave it over to God!) The rich young ruler, on the other hand, even though Jesus loved Him, couldn’t surrender… wouldn’t surrender…

In the prophet Jeremiah’s day, besieged by the armies of Babylon, surrendering because God said so meant life: Not necessarily a pleasant life; not necessarily an easy life; not knowing where they’d be taken; not knowing what their life there would bring; but, trusting in the Lord, surrender meant life! To us, besieged by trials and troubles, the powers of sin and darkness, and the propaganda and ways of society and the world, surrendering to God because He’s said so also means life: Not always a pleasant life; not an easy life; not always knowing where we’re being taken; not knowing what this life will bring; but, trusting in our Father, surrender means a closer and more intimate relationship with the Lord Who is the giver of life: The One Who’s given His life for you and me on the cross; Who’s given His life so that we might surrender, take His side in the battle raging for our families, neighbors, and the world, and know His companionship, covering, and glory…

“Higher Ground”June 18, 2017 A.D. By Pastor Ben Willis

Posted on Jun 22, 2017 in Sermons |

PSALM 128 [NLTse]
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
1 How joyful are those who fear the Lord—all who follow His ways! 2 You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be! 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table. 4 That is the Lord’s blessing for those who fear Him.
5 May the Lord continually bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live. 6 May you live to enjoy your grandchildren. May Israel have peace!

SERMON
I want to talk to the men here in the Sanctuary this morning. All the rest of you, please stay and listen in, be encouraged, and keep your ears and hearts open to what the Lord may be saying to you. But, primarily, I want to speak to you, men; to us, men…

I’m not saying what I’m about to say because it’s all on you, men. Nor am I saying what I’m about to say because without you – without us – all would be lost. No. The Lord is the Lord, and the Lord is the Savior. And women and wives are key, and are so gifted and equipped by the Lord, and bear so much of the burdens of life and kids and healthy living and spirituality across our nation and the nations.

No, I want to talk to you, men, because we need to be talked to about God’s things more regularly and more directly than we often do. We need to hear about and feel the weight of the responsibility that Almighty God has placed on our shoulders, even as we need to hear more about the sacrifice the Lord has offered on the cross to make a Way for us, and about the Helper and the Comforter Whom the Lord has given us so that we can succeed in everything He’s called us to.
That being said, have you noticed that there’s a shortage of real men out there? (And I’m going to define “real men” today as men who say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”) I read a story once about someone who, while visiting a little village, asked one of the folks living there, “Have you ever had anyone famous born here?” And the villager replied, “No, we’ve only had babies born here.”

Men: The good news is that real men – men who love God, and who love their wife and kids, and who enjoy life and living it – aren’t born; it’s a process. We can all grow and become – more and more – the men, husbands, and fathers we want to be and were made by God to be! And Psalm 128, shortly and concisely, tells us how we men can – by God’s grace – grow to – more and more – become such men!

First, can you see with me that everything flows from the first verse? Verse 1 says, “How joyful are those who fear the Lord—all who follow His ways!” And then everything else is the result of that: Enjoying the fruit of our labors; being joyful and successful; our wives flourishing and fruitful; our kids vigorous and growing ready for life in the world… And the psalm then ends pointing us back to verse 1, saying, “That is the Lord’s blessing for those who fear Him.”

So, let me start at the end and then move back to the beginning. That is, what are we being promised here (and across all the pages of Scripture, since this short psalm is in reality just a wonderful summary of so many different passages and promises)?

First, let me paint you a picture. Did you know that the planet Jupiter is Earth’s “first line of defense” against galactic destruction? Yeah. Jupiter is something like 99.9 percent efficient at throwing all the dangerous space junk, asteroids, and meteorites that head towards Earth back out to interstellar space!

Because Jupiter is 318 times heavier than Earth, Jupiter’s mass creates a huge gravitational field that acts as a giant vacuum. Almost all of the space “junk” that gets soaring towards Earth gets drawn into Jupiter’s gravitational field and drawn away from us to be drawn towards Jupiter.

This was lived-out in a spectacular way about fifteen years ago when a monster-comet that was headed towards Earth broke into fragments with more destructive power than all the atomic bombs humans have ever made combined. But the fragments were drawn away from us as they passed through Jupiter’s gravitational field and hit Jupiter instead (without leaving a trace).

I know the ancient Romans didn’t know these things about Jupiter, but with its protective role in mind, it seems to me that they named the biggest planet well: Because in Old Latin, Jupiter means “Sky-Father.”

I share this, men – husbands, dads – because we are called by God to protect and provide for our families. But somehow we’ve lost the true sense of such protection and provision over the years. Somehow, someway, we’ve come to think that we can just give our kids “stuff”, “things” and lay-down rules for them to live by in “our homes” and think we’ve met our obligation as protectors and providers! Somehow, someway we’ve come to think that protecting and providing for our families means putting our wives and kids in a beautiful home and then yelling at them – or hiding away from them in front of ESPN or C-SPAN – after we get home. But if we think that in doing that we’ve done all that God has for us to do, we’re wrong!

Our wives (often) have the need to be assured that they are loved and attractive to us. They (often) have the need to feel secure in the midst of this topsy-turvy, ever-threatening, ever-changing world. Our ladies want to know that they matter to us and that their lives matter and make a difference to us, and to the kids, and to our neighbors and the world around them and to the Lord! God’s calling us to help protect them from these kinds of anxieties, fears, and insecurities – the “junk” that would batter and pummel and destroy them. The Lord is calling us to help provide the emotional and spiritual stability needed in our marriages and in our homes.

Our kids, of course, face their own “junk”. They want to feel accepted, and loved. They want to feel safe and secure. They want to enjoy the adventures of life while learning boundaries and how to love and serve others. They want to grow in understanding their place in the world and know that they’ll be ready to take that place when they reach adulthood. And the Lord’s calling us to protect them from pressures and threats and to provide what they need to succeed in it all!
But how can we be such a protector? We have our own fears and anxieties, don’t we, men? How can we be such a provider? We have our own insecurities, don’t we, men? God’s answer for us is to fear Him: “How joyful are those who fear the Lord—all who follow His ways!”

But what does that mean? What does it mean to “fear the Lord“? Okay, so, the Lord can squash us all like bugs, if He liked. Are we supposed to simply grovel and beg and live in the fear of that? No. The truth is that He’s made clear that He doesn’t want to crush us. No, He’s gone to the cross and paid the penalty for our sins and given us Jesus’ Own righteousness and drawn us to Himself in love, instead! So, “fearing the Lord” for us His children by faith in Jesus means giving Him the respect He is due: Honoring Him; taking Him seriously; recognizing that He is holy; placing Him at the center of everything we are, everything we think, everything we say and do and plan to do!

Paul tells us in Colossians 1:18, “In all things Christ should have the preeminence”. He should be “first in everything”! Which connects us with the second part of this first verse, men: We fear God, we respect Him and honor Him and put Him at the center of everything in our lives by “following His ways.”

We live Jesus’ Way by thinking about and behaving in-line with Jesus’ teachings, His easy yoke: We love, and do good to, our enemies… We give to, and comfort, those in need… We forgive those who’ve hurt us and ask forgiveness when we’ve hurt others… Men, the Lord tells us that joy, blessing, and true happiness in life are the by-product – the fruit that grows from – living our lives God’s way. Not just believing He’s our Savior, but living with Him as our Lord. Everything good and perfect thing in this life flows from this!

And yet, don’t we all have friends or know people who are literally killing themselves trying to get ahead in life, to find joy and blessing and happiness for themselves, to make their marriages work, to keep their kids out of trouble? But the Lord shows us that the contentment, peace, wonder-and-awe we’re all looking for doesn’t come from our circumstances or our possessions or our relationships. We won’t find them by changing our jobs, or by getting an “A” on our test, or with a new hairdo, or with a new wife (or a new husband) or a new car or a new outfit… No. Joy, blessing, and happiness – every good thing in life – comes when we live life according to God’s ways; by fearing Him; putting the Lord first and making Him our center and trusting all He’s said and promised.

(Don’t get me wrong: We can strive for the world’s version of success and achieve such goals, but we will live to regret it! The truth is, in whatever we do, without God, we will either fail miserably or succeed miserably!)
Joy, blessing, and happiness come from fearing the Lord – from being afraid of what our lives would be without Him, from fearing missing any of His good things for us; every good things comes from orienting our lives around God as He’s shown Himself to us in Jesus Christ.

Men: Our greatest work is not building a great business. Our greatest work is not building a great church. Our greatest work for the Lord is to love Him, to love our wives, to love our children, and to pass on to them the values and the heritage and the way of life of the Word of God. (Which will, in-turn, cause them to pass the message of Christ down through all their generations, as well!)

If this is all new to you, men, then start simply but radically: Begin reading a chapter of the Bible every day. Start in one of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Read a chapter, highlighting or taking notes of whatever jumps out at you. Then think about what changes you would need to make in your life to live out what you just read. And commit to make those changes. Talk to God, ask for His help and blessing, and pray for your wife, your kids, your grandkids, not just His blessing on their lives but that they, too, like you, would grow in “fearing” Him and building their lives on Him.

If you’re ready for next steps: Start gathering your family together and read the Bible and talk about what you’re reading together; pray together as a family for each other’s struggles and for each other to grow in “the fear of the Lord”; offer yourself to be a part of a ministry here at the church; serve together with your wife or as a family, if you can; look for ways to push yourself in living out and sharing your faith; seek ways to face your fears and cast your anxieties on the Lord; if you’re too busy, then look at things you can cut out of your life to give you room and space to grow and to enjoy letting the Lord grow you…

Why is the father’s role so important? Because the father is intended to be the spiritual representative of God in the home. The husband is supposed to represent the leadership of Christ with his wife and family. The Bible says husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it! Men, we are to love our wives and give ourselves up for them! The reason that we men must live godly lives is so that we can model before our families and the world the love, character, and care of God Himself! We are to be the spiritual leader of our homes. We are to be the spiritual examples in our homes.

May the Lord continually bless you, men. May you see your family and the family of God prosper as long as you live. May you live to enjoy your grandchildren. And may our nation have peace!

Of course, none of us can do all that the Lord has called us to do on our own. Men can’t. Women can’t. Those who are young and those who are old can’t. No, we need Jesus. The Lord Jesus has destroyed the power of sin over us by dying on the cross; He’s destroyed the fear of death for us in His sacrifice! And He’s given us the Holy Spirit so we can grow to be more and more like Him, and to empower us to succeed in everything He might call us to. We are more than conquerors – men, women, guys, gals – through Him Who loved us.

After Sermon Note:
After the sermon Pastor Ben then asked to have everyone in the church move to be near one of the men of the church…]
Have them lay their hands on those men…
Have the church pray for the men of the church…