The Gospel According to John 1:19-34 [NLTse]

19 This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” 20 He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.”

21 “Well then, who are you?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”

“No,” he replied.

“Are you the Prophet we are expecting?”

“No.”

22 “Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”

23 John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’”

24 Then the Pharisees who had been sent 25 asked him, “If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?”

26 John told them, “I baptize with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. 27 Though His ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be His slave and untie the straps of His sandal.”

28 This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world! 30 He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A Man is coming after me Who is far greater than I am, for He existed long before me.’ 31 I did not recognize Him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that He might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from Heaven and resting upon Him. 33 I didn’t know He was the One, but when God sent me to baptize with water, He told me, ‘The One on Whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the One Who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that He is the Chosen One of God.”

One of the things that’s maybe different for me as a pastor than for most of you is that I spend most of my time with Christian people: People who have received Jesus of Nazareth as their Lord and Savior, people who are living their lives in fellowship with God, people who are trusting in His Word, and who are looking to Him to save… Most of you are working with, going up and down the halls with, standing in the check-out lines with people who are trying to save themselves, living their lives far away from God.

Because of this, one of the things that I get to see that’s a little bit different from what all of you see out there is that living knowing our sins are forgiven, living knowing that God has adopted us into His family, living in the hope of a better life to come in the new Heaven and the new Earth that Jesus is going to bring with Him when He comes back for us: I get to see that that isn’t enough for all God has planned for us – His children – here in the world.

I get to see many committed Christian people having trouble in their marriages. I get to see many committed Christian people struggling in their attitudes towards unsavory friends and co-workers. I get to see many committed Christian people losing the battle against putting too much focus and hope in the political scene. I get to see many committed Christian people overcome by their own desires and temptations, whether addictions or sinful habits or old, pre-Christian patterns of dealing with people: Unforgiveness, perfectionism, the need to be in control, etc… I get to see many committed Christians who are trying to live abundantly, and failing; people who have been washed and cleansed of their sins and are living in friendship, as sons and daughters of God, but who don’t have the power, don’t have the strength, don’t have it in them to overcome…

And then there are others – many committed Christian people – who are very capable, incredibly capable, who seem to be succeeding and overcoming this world. But I get to see that many of them are doing so by adopting the world’s ways and the world’s standards. They are more aggressive, more dominating, better arguers than those brothers and sisters and others around them. Some get their way by making people feel sorry for them. Others manipulate to get what they want. And, of course, many of these truly believe that what they want is what God wants. But I get to see that they seem to be succeeding and overcoming in this world because they are living and practicing ways that are very, very different from Jesus’ way: The way Jesus overcame the world.

The Bible shows us a power in Jesus Christ that all the powers in the world could not overthrow. We never see Him forcing Himself onto people. We never see Him arguing with people so that they’d believe Him. (We see Him arguing against what was false, but there is not a sense in His debates that He believed debate to be a way to bring His opponents into the Kingdom.) We never see Him fighting. We do see His zeal for God. We do see His willingness to stand firm, immoveable, for Kingdom causes. We even see His willingness to let those whom He loved around Him suffer when it would bring God glory. Of course, we see His willingness to be beaten, to be ridiculed, to be mocked, and even to die so that righteousness could be seen, and so that God’s purposes would be accomplished. Through it all He’s never the victim. Through it all we see Him victorious: Always the strong one; always overcoming.

King Jesus expressed (and still expresses) His power by serving even the “least of these” in His Kingdom. Jesus expressed His power by letting Himself be sacrificed, giving up His Own life so that those around Him might more fully live! Jesus expressed (and still expresses) His power through love. He makes His power known through joy. It is Jesus’ Own resurrection power that is His peace. We see Him showing God’s might through patience. He demonstrates His mighty nature through kindness. He shows the life and power that brought all creation into being through His generosity. He lives out the power that is able to forgive people’s sins by acts of faithfulness. The Lord Jesus Christ shows His power to be so superior to the power of the Evil One by being gentle. He shows us the authority He has over everything in Heaven and on the Earth through acts of self-control.

Such meek and lowly expressions of power! So contrary to the ways and standards of the world!

It reminds me, of course, of another group of Christians I get to see on a regular basis, being a pastor: Christians who are maybe wonderfully talented, and others who maybe are not; some who are very intelligent, and others who aren’t so much; Christians around us who have so very much to give, and others who are clearly lacking, and perhaps even need a lot of help themselves. But it is brothers and sisters around us in this church and in this community who are living not according to their own abilities and power but according to the abilities and power of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist said, “When God sent me to baptize with water, He told me, ‘The One on Whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the One Who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’”

My friends; my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ: Being washed and cleansed through John’s baptism with water is only the beginning – Commencement – of all that our Father wants for us now that He’s drawn us near to Himself through Jesus’ cleansing work on the cross. We need the Lord Jesus to baptize us with the Holy Spirit! For the sake of our marriages, we need the Holy Spirit. So that we might be godly dads and moms, and to help us raise our children to know God as their loving Father, we need the Holy Spirit. To be godly and obedient children, we need the Holy Spirit. To be hard-working, trustworthy, employees we need the Holy Spirit.

We need the Holy Spirit so we might be truly merciful, and so we might know how to truly help others in their times of need. We the Holy Spirit to stand against temptation and show people God’s righteousness with joy and thanksgiving! We need the Holy Spirit so that we might forgive others and seek one another’s forgiveness. We need the Holy Spirit to know the Father’s love, because it is the Holy Spirit Who pours the Father’s love into a person’s heart.

Perhaps you believe the Lord Jesus baptized you with the Holy Spirit when you first trusted in Him, or perhaps you had some marvelous experience when the Lord Jesus baptized you with the Holy Spirit. Praise God that you’ve received Jesus’ baptism! But He desires to baptize you again and again and again! Once filled with His Spirit we can’t help but pour ourselves out into the lives of others in acts of goodness and kindness, and sharing the good news about Jesus with them as we do. So we need to be re-filled, again and again and again! As Ephesians 5:18 says, “Keep being filled with the Holy Spirit.”

The Prophet Isaiah 9:1-7 [NLTse]

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the Sea, will be filled with glory.

² The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. ³ You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before You as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. ⁴ For You will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as You did when You destroyed the army of Midian. ⁵ The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.

⁶ For a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

As some of you may have noticed, this is the same passage of Scripture we read last week. Last week we spoke of how these promises of “a great light” and being set free from “slavery” and “heavy burdens” have been accomplished in the birth of Jesus Christ! Because Jesus has been born to us, because Jesus has been given to us, God is with us! And so having Jesus means we don’t have to be afraid and confused when others in the world and the world leaders around us are afraid and confused; we can rest secure knowing that Jesus is in control, and live confident in the truth God has revealed. We can have freedom sinful habits and addictions and every idol that would lead us away from God, all because Jesus Christ has been born to us!

That being said, this morning I’d like to go into more detail about these titles that Jesus Christ bears: He Who is “Wonderful Counselor!” “Mighty God!” “Everlasting Father!” “Prince of Peace!”

In the days before democracies a nation’s people had only their king to look to for making the right decisions for their welfare. I’m sure that folks still sat around talking politics, but it would never have been a discussion about getting this person or that person into power so that things might change: The nation lived at the whim of the king, and all a citizen could do was hope their king might be wise and compassionate and strong and powerful enough to protect them. One looked up to, hoped in, and trusted-for-the-best in the counsel of their king.

So the title “Counselor” points to Jesus Christ as our King, One Who can govern our lives and govern the nations well. And I think of all the times the Gospels tell us that the crowds were amazed at His teaching, and that His disciples were amazed at His teaching, and that the religious leaders of His day were amazed at His teaching… And with the reputations that many presidents and prime ministers and kings and governors, etc… have for being all too human, all too selfish, all too proud, and all too foolish, … to be promised a “wonderful Counselor” – an “astonishing Ruler”, a “truly wise King”… What a gift from God that would be, huh?

Now hold alongside that our Counselor Jesus also being “the Mighty God”. Isaiah 14:27 says, “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has spoken – who can change His plans? When His hand is raised, who can stop Him?” So Jesus Christ is not just some King Who has some great royal program to institute among us. Jesus Christ has a royal program He has come to institute and no power in Heaven or on Earth can stop Him from instituting it. And all the world will marvel at this plan He has for the world, and all the peoples of the Earth will benefit from His plan, as well, all those, that is, who will accept His lordship and receive from the hands of the King!

And what’s His “royal program”? Open your Bible with me to Isaiah chapter 11…

“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. ² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. ³ He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. ⁴ He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of His Word, and one breath from His mouth will destroy the wicked. ⁵ He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.

⁶ In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. ⁷ The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. ⁸ The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. ⁹ Nothing will hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.”

Justice and righteousness for all, that’s Jesus’ royal program for our lives and for the nations. The wicked will be destroyed, and the earth shall know absolute peace. (And Isaiah describes this peace by showing animals that are typically threats to other animals now living in peace together.) “Nothing will hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,” because the Earth will be filled with people who know the Lord. That’s what Jesus is bringing. That’s what His rule has begun to bring about. That’s His royal program.

And yet all of this is more than merely justice and wisdom and raw, universal power can bring about. This is the future Jesus’ rule and counsel will result in because, along with being the “Wonderful Counselor” and “Mighty God”, Jesus also provides for and protects His Own, always: He’s an everlasting Father. He is a constant caregiver. And we see His providing for His family, His flock, when He took those handfuls of bread and fish and fed those thousands and thousands of people with them. The woman He healed from the constant flow of blood knew Jesus as her everlasting Father when she touched Him and she was healed and He said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” And with politicians and those in positions of power hiding behind fall-guys, we see Jesus protecting us when He went to the cross: Our King, our Counselor, truly doing the wonderful by putting Himself between us and our enemy – God’s enemy – and taking the beating and punishment we deserved, so we wouldn’t have to…

And this peaceful, content, righteous, harmonious future will only come about because Jesus is the Prince of Peace, as well. And our Prince of Peace has fought the battle of the cross to destroy the power of sin that separated us from God. Giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the mute and walking and running to the lame and life to the dead and freedom from those possessed and knowledge to the ignorant, Jesus has shown Himself to be the Prince of Prosperity, the giver of every good thing.

And as our Prince, He will not stop leading Heaven’s forces until there is peace: Until there is peace in you; until there is peace in me; until there is peace in our marriages; until there is peace in our families; until there is peace our community here in Milford; until there is peace among the peoples of the United States; until there is peace within and among all the people and nations of the Earth. He will not stop. Jesus will not relent.

These are very personal wars He’s waging in that Jesus will not let sin reign [point to someone] in your life, or [point to someone else] in your life, or in my life. And yet it is a very public work in that He will not let sin reign among the nations, either. Prince Jesus will keep putting our stuff in our faces. That is, He will keep having our wives or our husbands bring up our troubles, He will keep putting us together with those we’re in conflict with, He will keep allowing us to face our temptations; He will keep giving us opportunities to succeed and overcome and be at peace! He will keep coming against anything that threatens His royal program being fulfilled, the fulfillment of His peaceable Kingdom.

He will not rest, He will not cease, until nothing hurts or destroys in all His holy mountain; until as the waters fill the sea the earth is filled with people who know the Lord…

As an introduction to our Scripture reading: Assyria, the invincible superpower of the day, was threatening to wipe out the southern kingdom of Judah, where Isaiah did his ministry. Isaiah saw in this the culmination of God’s judgment against the widespread apostasy of Judah under King Ahaz. The only hope for escape, Isaiah declared, was God’s intervention: Not political alliances, material wealth, or religious pretense. Yet, before God would intervene the Assyrians would come, and they would overwhelm the northern kingdom of Israel (the region that in Jesus’ day was called The Galilee) and they would carry off the wealth of Samaria, its capitol. And with the Assyrians would come darkness and despair…

The Prophet Isaiah 9:1-7 [NLTse]

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the Sea, will be filled with glory.

² The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. ³ You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before You as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. ⁴ For You will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as You did when You destroyed the army of Midian. ⁵ The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.

⁶ For a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

Did anyone here ever experience a scary pregnancy?  I remember – I think I’ve shared with many of you – when my oldest son, Noah, was born: And, as the alarms went off and the crashcarts came in, thinking he was going to die; and as I was pushed out of the way and some of the carts got set up around my wife, Amy, that she was going to die, too… It was a long few moments following a very long night of labor. But the joy and praise I felt when I found they were both going to be alright was… Well, the prophet Isaiah said that that’s something like what Judah’s joy was going to be like when their new King would be born.

I remember taking my ordination exams in seminary: Five several-hour-long tests each, asking detailed questions about the Bible and the church’s Constitution; about the pastoral approach I would take towards a highly unlikely and overly convoluted family crisis; about my understanding and application of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper in church life; and, a sermon – including all my research for it – on a fairly vague and controversial Scripture passage.

My entire graduating class took the exams at the same time, but, since they were graded by elders and pastors all over the country, we got them back at different times across several days. Mine didn’t come in the first day, and only one of the friends I had spoken to had passed them all, everybody else had perhaps passed three or four but failed the others. And you needed to pass all five or you didn’t become a pastor! And the second day mine didn’t come in: I was checking my box every hour or two… By then I’d run into a couple more friends who’d passed them all, but also several more who’d, again, failed one or two… I was holding my breath when I saw the paperwork filling my box late the afternoon of the third day. And I cried tears of awe and gratitude when I saw that I had passed all five…

Isaiah said that that would be something like the kind of relief and praise Judah would experience when the long night the Assyrians were bringing would finally end.

He compares the joy of that time to payday, and to retiremen (or to being an addict and getting and staying clean, or getting out of jail), and then to victory in war (for those of you who celebrated D-Day or for whom your spouse, parents, or children have come home safely from being deployed…).

Of course, there’s different ways people express joy: For some its very personal, dancing inside us, and all that shows is the ear-to-ear smile; for others, everyone around us gets to hear all about it whether they want to or not; and everything in between…

And, what would end Judah’s time of darkness and despair? What will be the cause of this great joy? A new King would be born, and His wisdom to rule well would astonish those around Him. He will be “El”, the all-powerful God of the gods; and not someone who would ever leave them orphaned but a “forever father”; the chief and champion to make Mankind whole and complete… And His reign would last forever. And under His rule life for the great ones and the nobodies of the Earth would be fair and just forever.

And the Bible tells us in Matthew 4:12-16, “When Jesus heard that John [the Baptist] had been arrested, He left Judea and returned to Galilee. He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:

“‘In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the Sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.’”

And this is the time we live! We’ve sat in the darkness. We’ve known the captivity of sin and what it’s like to be terrified of death, right? Don’t you remember? (If you’re still in such a place, helpless against temptations and frightened of the unknown and being out of control, Jesus Christ wants to shine on you and set you free and lead you to rejoice in Him!) King Jesus has been setting men, women, boys, and girls free from sin and death and fear and shame for more than 2,000 years, and He can set you free, too!

And, like the report you’ve been waiting a month for that finally comes back, “No cancer!” and, like the way you felt when you asked her out and she said, “Yes,” and, like after years of trying, when the test unbelievably shows you’re really pregnant! the life of a Christian is that kind of rejoicing!

And not only do we have so many reasons to rejoice and celebrate Him and delight in our Father and Savior, but we’re commanded to: “Delight yourself in the LORD,” Psalm 37:4 says. The apostle Paul said of himself that he was “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” (2 Corinthians 6:10) And Nehemiah 8:10 commits to us, “The joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Let me share some more Scripture about this. Deuteronomy warns: “If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you.” (28:47) (Any of us experiencing the reality of that right now?)

Psalm 33 begins, “Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord; it is fitting for the pure to praise Him.” (v. 1) And Psalm 40:16, “May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You.” “The LORD reigns,” Psalm 97 proclaims, “let the Earth be glad!” (v. 1) And “let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!” (Psalm 105:3b)

With this in mind, have you ever noticed that our Father calls us, not merely to do mercy, but to “love mercy” in Micah 6:8? To do our “acts of mercy with cheerfulness!” Romans 12:8 charges us. To be cheerful givers, 2 Corinthians 9:7 says. And on and on.

Back in the 1600’s Puritan Richard Baxter wrote: “May the Living God, who is the portion and rest of the saints, make these our carnal minds so spiritual, and our earthly hearts so heavenly, that loving Him, and delighting in Him, may be the work of our lives.” (Richard Baxter, The Saints’ Everlasting Rest [Grand Rapids, Mich,: Baker, 1978] p. 17)

Presbyterian Pastor Matthew Henry, who’s famous for his Bible Commentary, wrote: “The joy of the Lord will arm us against the assaults of our spiritual enemies and put our mouths out of taste for those pleasures with which the tempter baits his hooks.” (Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 [Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, n.d., orig. 1708] p. 1096)

And the apostle Paul goes on, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) And King David, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

Across the Word of God the Holy Spirit charges us to be and live joyfully, and so much so that those around us might catch our joy. (2 Corinthians 2:3) Even so, our Father’s given us so very many different reasons to rejoice!

Yet we all have bad days, don’t we? And there can be so much bad news around us. And others we care about or whom affect our lives can be nasty, and trip us up, and leave us anything but joyful. And if we set our minds on such things, and if we let anything but Christ rule our minds and hearts, no, we will not know very much joy. But when we put Jesus first…

If, when we realize that our thoughts have strayed from Him, and we find ourselves in the darkness of worry, fear, wicked thoughts, despair… If we’ll stop and set our minds on Him, and the cross, and all He’s done and all He’s promised…! How can our joy not return? Do you think we’ll be able to keep ourselves from praise? A joy and a praise that are like groundwater running beneath everything in our life, like an operating system, running along in the background giving hidden life and light to all our troubles and woes so that we don’t mourn or receive bad news like unbelievers: Because the Light has come, the new King has been born! And because He’s reigning, and because now life is fair with Him on the throne: Nobody’s yet getting their judgments or rewards, but everybody will, soon! And because His advice is always good, and because He’s so close and with us always.

I’m someone who can express my joy all “hoot and hollerin’,” but mostly I live my joy just “being before Him in wonder and awe”…

The Revelation to John 19:11-21 [NLTse]

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. ¹² His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. ¹³ He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. ¹⁶ On his robe at his thigh^[e] was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: “Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. ¹⁸ Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great.”

¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. ²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. ²¹ Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies.

Jesus spoke often about coming again. He said, “You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.” (Matthew 24:44) He said, “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.” (John 14:3) As we read earlier, immediately after Jesus had ascended into Heaven, two angels said to the disciples, “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why are you standing here staring into Heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into Heaven, but someday He will return from Heaven in the same way you saw Him go!’” (Acts 1:11) Paul taught, “… the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16) The author of Hebrews wrote that Christ “died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him.” (Hebrews 9:28) James wrote, “…the coming of the Lord is near.” (James 5:8) Peter said, “…the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief.” (2 Peter 3:10) John wrote, “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him…” (1 John 3:2) And The Revelation to John has frequent references to Christ’s return, but ends with this promise from Jesus, “Yes, I am coming soon!” And John’s response, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (The Revelation 22:20)

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the dominant, living hope of the New Testament church. The verses we just read speak of a sudden return of Christ that will be dramatic and visible. (“As the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.” [Matthew 24:27] “…everyone will see Him…” [The Revelation 1:7]) Although it was once popular to believe that the Lord Jesus would not bodily return, but that merely His teachings- and lifestyle-of-love would return and overwhelm the peoples of the Earth, the passages we’ve just read are far too explicit to allow for that idea. It is not His teachings or His style of conduct, but “the Lord Himself” Who will descend from Heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16). It is Jesus Himself Who “will return from Heaven in the same way you saw Him go!” (Acts 1:11)

Several passages indicate that we do not, and cannot, know the time when Christ will return. Let’s open to Matthew 24:44. The Lord Jesus says, “… the Son of Man will come when least expected.” Turn the page to 25:13. Jesus goes on, “…keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return.” Keep turning to Mark 13:32-33. Jesus says, “…no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in Heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows. And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!”

The practical result of the force of these passages is that anyone who claims to know the hour or the day or even the month or the year when the world will end and Jesus will come back is automatically to be considered wrong.

Even so, there are certain events that need to happen before Christ’s return. If you still have your Bibles open to Mark 13, good. If not, let’s open back to Mark 13 together.

1) In v. 10 Jesus says, “The Good News must first be preached to all nations.” (Mark 13:10) Has it been? In that first century Paul could write to the Colossians, “The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.” (1:23) Here in our day, with modern print and media resources along with the plus or minus six million Christian missionaries at work in the world, we could say, “The Good News has been preached all over the world.”

2) Look with me at Mark 13:7-8. Jesus says, “You will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” In vv. 19-20 He continues, “There will be greater anguish in those days than at any time since God created the world. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, not a single person will survive. But for the sake of His chosen ones He has shortened those days.”

This has come to be called the “Great Tribulation”, this time of anguish and war and earthquake and famine, but a time of anguish greater than any the Earth has ever known. The first century knew times of horrific suffering for Christians and many people’s during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 66AD and during the periods of Christian persecution under emperors Nero and Domitian. And since the first century, there have been many periods of violent and intense persecution of Christians, and in the past hundred years much of it has occurred over large portions of the globe, with Christians being horribly persecuted in the former Soviet Union, in communist China, and in Muslim countries. I can imagine it would be difficult to convince the many modern-day Christians who have undergone decades of persecution for their faith, and who have know that persecution to affect thousands of other Christians throughout large segments of the world that such a great tribulation has not yet occurred!

3) Mark 13:22. Jesus says, “False messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.” Has this happened yet? Certainly demonic miracles and false signs have been done for centuries, at least since the time that the magicians in Pharaoh’s court produced false signs in opposition to Moses’ miracles (Exodus 7:11; 8:7), and since the time that Simon the Magician won riches, a name, and a following for himself in Samaria before Phillip, Simon Peter, and John brought to gospel there. (Acts 8:9-11)

4) In Mark 13:24-25 the Lord Jesus said, “At that time, after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” Although some have sought to explain this as simply symbolic language, contextually it is much more likely that such a shaking of the Earth and Heaven would be a part of the cosmic destruction often spoken of accompanying Christ’s return. These particular signs clearly have not yet occurred, and yet they could occur very quickly – within the space of a few minutes or at the most an hour or two – but nothing that should lead us to deny that Christ could return at any time.

5) Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians 2 for this next one. Paul writes, “Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ … that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God…” (Vv. 1-4) Antichrist this “man of lawlessness” is often called. Surely antichrist hasn’t come yet?

In the first century the Roman emperors Nero and Domitian were thought by many to be this “antichrist”: They claimed deity for themselves and demanded to be worshiped. More recently, Adolf Hitler was commonly thought to be the antichrist, as was Joseph Stalin. Although it is likely that a worse “man of lawlessness” will yet arise on the world scene and bring unparalleled suffering and persecution, the evil already perpetrated by so many world leaders across Christian history would certainly meet the Bible’s qualifications that antichrist has appeared and that this sign has already been fulfilled.

6) Lastly, Romans 11 speaks of the salvation of Israel as taking place before Jesus returns. Let’s turn there. In v. 12 Paul writes, “Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it…” (And down to v. 25.) “Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved.” Some believe that Romans 9-11 speak of a future mass conversion of Jews accepting Jesus as their Messiah. Yet many others have argued that no such Jewish-conversion is necessary other than the kind already seen throughout the first century and the history of the church, since (if you’ll look with me up to vv. 1-2) Paul gives himself as an example of God bringing Jewish-Israel to Christ. So, perhaps this sign, too, is already being fulfilled as we hear of so many Jews receiving Jesus as their Messiah.

So, except for the spectacular signs in the heavens, it is possible that every sign the Bible speaks of needing to be fulfilled before Jesus returns for us has already been fulfilled, or is being fulfilled at this very moment. And the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars, could occur within the space of a few minutes!

So I ask us, “Are we ready?” Are we ready for Jesus’ return? If you knew Jesus was going to appear at the end of this Worship Service, would you welcome that news, or would it make you nervous? Many have gotten into the habit of thinking that because He hasn’t come so far that maybe He’s not coming at all? The Scriptures won’t allow for that chain of thinking. He’s coming. He’s coming back. And because He’s coming at a time when we will least expect it, wouldn’t right now fit the bill? Are you ready? Are we ready?

Jesus is coming back for His Bride, the Church. Is there anything you need to change before He arrives? Anything you need to get into your life, or get out of your life as you expect His return? Are there any disappointments you’ve been facing that have been overwhelming you up until now, but if He’s coming so soon, now you know you can handle it all? Who do you need to be reconciled with whom you’ve been at odds with for too long now that you realize Jesus’ return is so near?

He’s coming back for us! Our protector and redeemer, Who’s bought us and saved us: He’s coming back for us! Let’s decorate our souls, turning “from godless living and sinful pleasures,” Paul writes to Titus. “We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.” (2:12-13)

Our Husband is coming to take us to our true home. Let’s expect Him. Let’s prepare our hearts and lives for His coming. Let’s get ready. Let’s live always ready!

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1 Chronicles 29:10-13 [NLTse]

“O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may You be praised forever and ever! ¹¹ Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on Earth is Yours, O Lord, and this is Your kingdom. We adore You as the One Who is over all things. ¹² Wealth and honor come from You alone, for You rule over everything. Power and might are in Your hand, and at Your discretion people are made great and given strength.

¹³ “O our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name!

A few years ago, a new book reached the #1 spot on the New York Times best-seller list. The book’s title was: “Final Exit”, by Derek Humphry, the director of the national Hemlock Society. It gives detailed instructions on a variety of ways to commit suicide. When a book is written about how to end your life, and it ends up on the best-seller list, you get the impression that there is something wrong out there. All of this in the wealthiest land in all the world, with more privileges, freedoms and possibilities than anywhere else, at any time. It speaks of how much we take for granted, and, it seems to me, how much ingratitude has poisoned our hearts. Americans have piled things on top of their pain, and found that all these things make poor anesthetics. Under all the luxury we are still more unhappy than many of those who live in abject poverty! Is there any more telling evidence that people are desperately in need of God? Can anyone come up with a more plausible explanation? Americans deny themselves nothing — except a relationship with our Creator.

We can see this in the lives of many television “stars” and music “idols; in many business moguls and political “elite”: How many of these so rich and famous get addicted to alcohol and/or drugs; or have affairs and gambling troubles; require all manner of sordid cover-ups and spin-doctors for their dark and shameful stories… They seem to have it all, yet their woes speak to an emptiness deep down inside that they are trying to fill. There is a hunger they cannot satisfy, and a thirst they cannot quench. Anyone here feel like that today?

In contrast, listen to the words of the apostle Paul as he described what his life was like: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). Paul’s life was filled with many difficulties which he could have complained about. How many of us would put up with constant stress, confusion, persecution, and beatings that left deep scars and permanent injuries, and still maintain a positive attitude?

But Paul had learned an important secret to life. He said, “I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, Who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13). He had learned the secret of not living life based on the conditions around him. His happiness was not based on situations, but on his relationship with Christ. He knew he had all he needed in Jesus, for it was Christ that gave him the strength to live.

In Christ, God the Father is saying to us: “Don’t wait to be happy!” Don’t postpone happiness until your situation changes, or you have acquired a certain thing. If you cannot be happy now you will not be happy then, for happiness is not a matter of what you have, or what situation you are in. It is a matter of who you are and how you respond to life. It is found within, and unless it is on the inside, all the things in the world on the outside will not make a difference. If you have been saying, “I’ll be happy when…,” then you will never be happy, because when that condition is met there will be a dozen more conditions to take its place. If you cannot learn to be happy now, you will never learn to be happy in spite of how much you have or achieve. If you are not content with less you will never be content with more.

The Bible says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Notice that it does not say “Prosperity with contentment is great gain.” Contentment comes from seeking God, not things. Jesus said, “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). As His very Own children God calls us to seek after Him the way we seek after other things in our lives. (And perhaps if we sought God the way we seek after these other things many of our problems would disappear.) We have been made in such a way that our relationship with God is the source of our contentment. Nothing else can take His place.

Ecclesiastes says, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (5:10). You could be the wealthiest person on the face of the Earth and not be content. Likewise,you could be dirt poor and be quite satisfied.

Contentment comes when you learn that this world can never satisfy you, but that satisfaction can be found in a relationship with God and living for Him. It is that relationship which provides us with meaning and security in this life, and an assurance of eternal life where all our deepest needs will be completely satisfied. The Psalmist, when thinking of Heaven, said, “I will see Your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing Your likeness” (Psalm 17:15). “You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand” (Psalm 16:11). We can live through hardship or grief here, if it becomes necessary, because we are not expecting this world to satisfy us; we are looking to the world that is yet to come.

Author and theologian Henri Nouwen once wrote, “Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. I can choose to be grateful when I am criticized, even when my heart still responds in bitterness. I can choose to speak about goodness and beauty, even when my inner eye still looks for someone to accuse or something to call ugly.”

Thanksgiving reminds us of what we have and Who gave it to us. Thanksgiving takes our mind off our wants and focuses them on our blessings. Thanksgiving gives our hands a rest from our labor and allows to us lift them in praise. Thanksgiving gives our minds a rest from thinking about our problems and lets us remember how few problems and needs we truly have.

The Bible says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:7). That is why we can say, “This is the day the LORD has made; [we will] rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). We are content, we are happy because we are a people of thanksgiving. We are a people of thanksgiving because we have a God Who cares. He has made us, and He has made our world. He has made today and all our tomorrows. And out of the gratitude we feel toward Him for all His faithful goodness, we want to share the blessings.

Being thankful is an act of faith. It means you are unafraid to live and be happy because you believe that God truly cares for you and will provide for you. You trust He is faithful and that His promises are true. You believe He will never fail. And when you have a relationship with this wonderful God you have contentment, joy, and a desire to pass on what God has blessed you with. To thank is simply trust in action…

Share thanksgivings…

Let me close with a prayer from Bible scholar Matthew Henry. He had been recently mugged. The words of his prayer remind me of how very much we have to be thankful for that we can so often take for granted. He prayed: “I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed.”

We have so much to be thankful for. Be thankful. Be thankful! Work at it. Revel in it! Be thankful.

The Prophet Isaiah 21:1-10 [NLTse]

This message came to me concerning Babylon—the desert by the sea: Disaster is roaring down on you from the desert, like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev. ² I see a terrifying vision: I see the betrayer betraying, the destroyer destroying. Go ahead, you Elamites and Medes, attack and lay siege. I will make an end to all the groaning Babylon caused.

³ My stomach aches and burns with pain. Sharp pangs of anguish are upon me, like those of a woman in labor. I grow faint when I hear what God is planning; I am too afraid to look. ⁴ My mind reels and my heart races. I longed for evening to come, but now I am terrified of the dark.

⁵ Look! They are preparing a great feast. They are spreading rugs for people to sit on. Everyone is eating and drinking. But quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle. You are being attacked!

⁶ Meanwhile, the Lord said to me, “Put a watchman on the city wall. Let him shout out what he sees. ⁷ He should look for chariots drawn by pairs of horses, and for riders on donkeys and camels. Let the watchman be fully alert.”

⁸ Then the watchman called out, “Day after day I have stood on the watchtower, my lord. Night after night I have remained at my post. ⁹ Now at last—look! Here comes a man in a chariot with a pair of horses!” Then the watchman said, “Babylon is fallen, fallen! All the idols of Babylon lie broken on the ground!”

¹⁰ O my people, threshed and winnowed, I have told you everything the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said, everything the God of Israel has told me.

For my devotions each week I read and study a Psalm, a section from one of the New Testament Letters or Revelation, a section from the Prophets, a section from one of the Gospels, a section from the Old Testament’s Law or History, and a chapter from the Book of Proverbs: One reading to study in-depth each day except Sunday. My reading from the Prophets this past week was this reading from the Prophet Isaiah 21.

As biblical prophecy can, this particular Word-of-the-Lord seems to address several different Babylon-related historical events. First, I believe – through Isaiah – that the Lord is speaking of an event that would occur during Isaiah’s own lifetime because, as Babylon was rising in power and seeking to challenge superpower Assyria’s dominance over the Middle East, first in 710 B.C. and then again in 689 B.C., seeing Babylon’s rising threat, the Assyrian army soundly and savagely crushed the armies of Babylon. Judah, along with Edom and the peoples of Arabia, had been seeking an alliance with Babylon against Assyria during those years. So when Assyria devastated Babylon, Assyria punished Judah, Edom, and the Arab kings, as well. (And you can see God’s revelation concerning these things in the Words about Edom and Arabia that follow our morning’s passage across the rest of Chapter 21.)

But I believe this prophecy also speaks of events that would happen 150-200 years after Isaiah’s death, after Babylon had supplanted Assyria as the invincible power of the region. History tells us that in 538 B.C., during a great feast that the last Babylonian king had thrown for his nobles, that invaders from the combined empires of the Medes and Persians secretly entered Babylon’s capitol and took control of the government without any organized opposition from the Babylonian military whatsoever. One day it was the Babylonian Empire; the next day it was the Medo-Persian Empire.

So in 710 and again in 689 B.C. “Babylon had fallen – had fallen!” And in 538 B.C., with tables set, rugs spread, with all her officers eating and drinking, “Babylon had fallen – had fallen!” And, of course, as you may know, “Babylon” is the symbolic name The Revelation to John gives the kingdom of this world led by Satan and his king, AntiChrist, and led in worship by the False Prophet. And we know that when our Lord Jesus returns to defeat these powers that have stood against Him that, then too, “Babylon will fall – Babylon has fallen!”

I speak of these things because the media has used phrases this week describing the storm and its devastation as being “of biblical proportions” and the Psalms and the Prophets are filled with poetry and pictures of the Lord’s absolute dominance over storm, flood, famine, the cosmos, even death itself.

I was speaking with Anita Gutschick this week, the actress who will be with us this-coming Saturday presenting Women of the Bible. Describing what she saw around her waterfront community in Maryland and on the TV from storm-ravaged New Jersey and New York, she said: “We’ve only seen a touch of God’s great power. He Who opened the floodgates of Heaven and released the waters under the Earth to flood the entire planet in Noah’s day has only demonstrated the slightest hint of His glory in Hurricane Sandy.”

And in our reading Isaiah had been praying against the Babylonians. First, that Judah would not put its hope in alliances with other nations, like Babylon, but put its hope in the Lord. And then, also, once Babylon began its dominance and its cruelty and Judah began to be crushed under its rule, Isaiah prayed for Judah’s deliverance from Babylon’s dominion…

And yet we hear Isaiah’s words of shock and compassion and mourning in response to the vision he’s been given concerning Babylon judgment by God. In verse 3 Isaiah cries: “My stomach aches and burns with pain. Sharp pangs of anguish are upon me, like those of a woman in labor. I grow faint when I hear what God is planning; I am too afraid to look. My mind reels and my heart races. I longed for evening to come, but now I am terrified of the dark.” Isaiah had prayed, longed for “evening” – for an end to Babylon’s day – but as he’s given this Word concerning the Lord’s judgment on Babylon he’s terrified of what he’s seen… Yes, they are Judah’s enemies but, O, Lord, it is so terrible…

And, I can’t speak for you but, it’s been terrible for me to see in the news of what so many have been going through because of this storm, these floods, these “acts of God”. Even as I’ve been praying that the Lord would use such horrors to draw people who’ve ignored Him to search for Him, even as I’ve been praying that He would use such horrors to punish the wicked and bring them to a real change of heart… I haven’t been praying against the New Yorkers or Jersey Shore folks as Isaiah had been praying against Babylon, but I, too, pray that all people will know the Lord, no matter the cost! And I, too, long for the day when Satan’s and Anti-Christ’s and the False Prophet’s persecution-of-Christ’s-Church, and their work-against-the-spread-of-the-gospel-and-Jesus’-Kingdom-across-the-face-of-the-Earth to end. I feel I can have some level of integrity in joining with Isaiah to say that “I longed for evening to come, but now I am terrified of the dark.” I know the Lord is righteous and loving and does everything well, and I want Jesus to return and for His Kingdom to come among us in all its fullness, but I hurt for what I see so many are going through…

I was considering these things the other night as I was drifting off to sleep. I was imagining myself on the Jersey Shore, standing on a deck or a rooftop as the sea level was rising to those 14’ surges before me. And I pictured a wall of water (like those 20’ waves that were reported) rising up over top of me. And it came crashing down on me and broke me like a rag doll against the railing and walls that were behind me. And in my dream (or this imagining) I was floating, dead, under the water around this neighborhood…

And then my next awareness was of being in Heaven. And it was glorious! And it was beautiful! And it was so much more than everything we’ve read or been told or that I’d ever imagined…

And I realized, or was given to realize, and remembered – in the face of my pity and heartache – that death’s not so bad when you belong to the Lord. For all those who’ve died in these horrors that-had-given-themselves-to-Jesus, they’re home now! They’re where we want to be! The dying of the lost and the stubborn and the proud, of those who’d rejected Him, that’s another thing, of course…

So it seems to me that it shouldn’t be that people are dying, have died, or will die that hurts me so much. After all, ultimately, that’s how we get home! So what is it that’s making me so sad, I thought? Well, maybe it’s the suffering I see people going through: The fear; the worry; the pain; the cold; the grieving; the broken dreams that I see across the faces on the news reports.

But even there I remember that the Bible tells us that Christians “can rejoice, too, when we [suffer] running into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance [in this life]. And endurance [in suffering] develops strength of character [in us], and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation [that Jesus will indeed rescue us!] And this hope [is not empty and] will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.” (Romans 5:3-5)

So, I want to help, and I want to ease peoples’ burdens and sufferings to help them see and know Christ in me. But I also want to trust God more in the midst of these horrors.

I remember that Jesus – with His disciples – was sailing across the Sea of Galilee when a life-threatening storm rose upon them. And Jesus spoke to those waves and to that storm, “Peace! Be still!” And all became calm. So I know that if storms around us rage and do not calm, but take life and cause trials and horrors and troubles, I know that God Almighty is there and choosing not to calm these things. And if He’s not calming the storm around us we can surely count on Him to calm the storm in us – the panic and worry and desire to control and the fear… He’ll calm the storm in me if I look – not to Babylon or the power company to save me but – to Him to save me. He’ll calm the storm in me if I believe the promises and truth of His Word and trust in Him, and focus not on saving myself but on showing His compassion and sorrow on those suffering around me – trusting that He has and will save me, setting me free to serve-and-love those who are a part of His flock as well as those sheep without a shepherd around me…

We are free to do live in this kind of liberty – the kind of liberty that no nation can give and no government can take away – when we trust and know how dearly God loves us, because He’s given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

Prayer

Lord over the winds and waves… We are like flowers: Glorious today, faded and gone tomorrow; but You remain forever… Yet You have made us to reflect Your glory forever by making people righteous through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ…

Give us Your Holy Spirit… Fill our hearts with Your love… Don’t let our warm-and-fuzzy sympathies water-down Your love for the world…  Give us grace so that peoples’ sufferings won’t be for nothing but – by working with You and sensitive the plans and purposes of Your Spirit – that we might be useful in helping the struggling, the suffering, the lost, and the distraught – those who think they’ve lost everything – come to know You and receive Your love, comfort, mercy, and grace, and to know that with You they’ve received everything they will ever truly need…

Genesis 17:1-14 [NLTse]

Today we are baptizing Olivia and Anya , according to their faith in Jesus Christ and the faith of their guardian, their grandmother, Robin Green…

The Bible’s teaching on baptism begins with the story of the baptism of our Lord Jesus, told in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22.

The Word of God tells us that before Jesus was baptized, His cousin, John, began baptizing people as a sign of repentance and preparation for the coming of the Messiah. (See Mark 1:4-8.) But when Jesus Himself was baptized, the core meaning of baptism was changed: It was no longer a sign of repentance, for Jesus was without sin and had no need to repent. Rather, His baptism served as a “sign” publicly proclaiming Jesus’ ministry of salvation for the human race. For when Jesus came up out of the water and the voice from Heaven said, “You are My beloved Son,” the crowds heard God’s Word in Psalm 2, identifying Jesus as King David’s heir, and when the voice said, “You are My beloved Son in You I am well-pleased,” they heard God’s Word from Isaiah 42, identifying Jesus as the long-promised Messiah who would be filled with God’s Holy Spirit, bring forth justice to the nations, called in righteousness, appointed as a covenant to God’s people and a light to the nations, who would open blind eyes, and set the captives free.

So, for Christians, the primary meaning of our baptisms is identifying ourselves with Jesus Christ, and His Kingdom, and His Covenant.

Perhaps you’re thinking, but I thought baptism was a sign of repentance. Turn with me to 1 Peter 3:21… Here Peter does speak of baptism as, “not [sic] removing dirt from your body, but [sic] a response to God from a clean conscience.” And you can see the footnote that this passage could also be translated to say that baptism is “an appeal to God for a clean conscience,” and so link it to repentance. But, the Bible never shows someone being encouraged toward baptism merely to show their repentance. And I can tell you that no one has ever come to me for baptism so they can show their family, the congregation, and the world that they’ve repented of their sins. No, at its core baptism is not a sign of our repentance.

Some of you may have been taught that baptism is when we’re given the Holy Spirit. And, although we do see the Lord Jesus baptized by the Holy Spirit during His baptism, and although we do see the Holy Spirit coming upon several believers during their baptisms in the Book of Acts, Acts tells us of several others who were filled with the Holy Spirit before they were baptized and even several more upon whom the Holy Spirit fell after they’d been baptized. So baptism is not primarily a sign of the Holy Spirit coming upon us, either.

No. Although baptism is a picture of being washed and cleansed from sin and guilt and shame; and, although baptism is a picture of dying to self and being born again to live for Christ; and, although baptism can be an appeal to God for a clean conscience, and also can be a response to God after He’s cleansed our conscience; and, although baptism might be a time when the Holy Spirit comes upon us; and, although baptism does ofthen demonstrate the desire of the one baptized (or their guardians or parents) to have God the Father and God the Son live in them by seeking God the Holy Spirit to live in them; although all of these things are a part of baptism, at its heart, baptism is publicly acknowledging that we belong to God in Jesus Christ, and seeking God’s help in all these ways as we live by faith trusting Him day-by-day.

Just as the rite of circumcision identified the Israelites as God’s people from the time of Abraham to the time of Christ, baptism has identified Christians as God’s people from the time of Christ until today.

That being said, notice that baptism doesn’t save us; baptism doesn’t make us a part of the New Covenant the Lord Jesus established on the cross. Paul writes to the Christians living in the province of Galatia that, “you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (3:26) It’s our faith that saves us. (Thank You, Lord.) It’s our faith that grafts us into the Covenant the Father has made with us. And baptism is the sign of that faith, and baptism is an act we commit because of our faith, but apart from faith baptism – no matter how elaborately and majestically conducted – is just a sign…

The Bible teaches that this identification with Christ which parents have according to their faith is automatically shared with their children and all who are a part of their household. We see that spoken of in our reading from Genesis: As soon as a son was eight days old he was to be marked with the “sign” of the Covenant – the sign of circumcision – as were all the household servants and slaves. Likewise under the New Covenant, when parents and heads of households accepted Christ we see their entire families and whole households being baptized along with them. Turn with me to Acts 16:15… Here we see Lydia and her household being baptized. Down in v. 31… We see Paul and Silas’ jailer being baptized, “he and all his household.” And, if you’ll turn to 1 Corinthians 1:16… Paul speaks here of baptizing the entire household of Stephanas…

So today we are baptizing Olivia and Anya, according to their own faith in Christ and according to their guardian’s faith in Christ, and Robin’s promise to raise them to know Christ and follow Him. We baptize Olivia and Anya in the hopes they will confirm these baptismal vows with their words and their deeds when they reach an age of understanding – maybe their teen years… And in the hopes they will confirm these baptismal vows with their words and their deeds all the days of the their lives…

When my wife and I attend weddings together – whether I am presiding over the wedding or whether we are sitting next to each other during the ceremony – there is always a moment during the vows when we look at each other, confirming our vows with the words of the vows those being married are making. I encourage us all, as Robin and the girls answer the questions of baptism, to confirm our commitments to Christ – our identification with Him – our communion with Him – and His Kingdom and His Covenant.

Ascription of Praise

Now to Him Who has made us a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His Own people, in order that we may proclaim the mighty acts of Him Who called us out of darkness into God’s marvelous light, be all blessing and honor, glory and power, wisdom and thanksgiving forever and ever. Amen?

Book chapter:verses [NLTse]

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Last Sunday during the Second Service a young man sitting in the front row interrupted my sermon to ask, out of the blue, “Does God hate gay people?” As you can imagine, everyone was shocked and taken aback by the question. (Perhaps the same way you are feeling right now. J) I quickly responded to the man, saying that God did not hate gay people, and quoted John 3:16 to him – that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whomever believed in Him would never perish but have everlasting life”. I then got back to the rest of my message by committing to him that I would address the question more fully at another time.

But as this past Monday came, and Tuesday, with all the reporting about states voting to legalize gay marriage and TV shows like Glee, True Blood, Grey’s Anatomy and so many others including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered characters, I felt increasingly compelled by the Lord to address this question directly today: Does God Hate gay people?

The answer to this question, as well as the reason for this question, comes from the Bible, of course. Would you open with me to Genesis 19:4-8… Two angels have been sent by God to the great city of Sodom to investigate whether the reports of the city’s wickedness were true or not. Afraid for their safety if they spent the night in the city square, Abraham’s nephew, Lot, has pleaded with them to spend the night in his home. And Genesis 19:4 tells us:

⁴ But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. ⁵ They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”

⁶ So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. ⁷ “Please, my brothers,” he begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing.”

So here’s the first place, right here in the very first book of the Bible, where homosexual practice is described as being a “wicked thing”. But does God hate gay people?

Let’s turn to Leviticus 18:22… This is probably the most famous Old Testament passage concerning homosexuality. Moses writes: ²² “Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.” And if you keep on reading your Bibles you will see Deuteronomy (23:17) banning gay behavior in Israel, and Judges (19:22-23) declaring homosexuality as a “great wickedness”, and 1 Kings (22:46) celebrating a king who banished all sodomites from the lands of Judah.

Clearly the Old Testament writings show that God detests gay sexual practices. But does God hate gay people?

Romans 1:26-27 is probably the most popular New Testament passage about homosexuality. Let’s turn there together… Paul’s writing about the progression of human depravity that follows when people seek to live life apart from God and make gods in their own images. And He writes: ²⁶ That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. ²⁷ And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

So the male and female gay sex-acts are described as “shameful” and the result of God having abandoned men and women when they chose to obey their passions instead of obeying Him.

And we can go on in the New Testament and see how 1 Timothy (1:9-10) includes homosexual practice in a listing of behaviors that are godless and rebellious, and how Jude 7 speaks of homosexuality as a “gross immorality”. So there is a consistent condemnation of the homo-sexual behavior across the Scriptures. But that still leaves our question unaddressed: Does God hate gay people?

If you would turn with me to 1 Corinthians 6:9-12… I believe this passage is the most revealing of all the Bible’s messages about homosexuality. Paul writes: ⁹ Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. ¹¹ Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

So, “Does God hate gay people?” No. It is God’s desire to adopt gay people into His New Covenant family and cleanse them of the power their same-sex attractions have had over them, and make them holy, and make them right with God through the Holy Spirit as they call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And yet this great love God has for gay people, and these great plans the Father has for gay people, aren’t just for gay people.  His great love and great plans are for those involved in other sinful sexual practices, too (because there are many more than just homosexuality), and all those who are worshiping idols, and all those who are having affairs, and who are stealing, and who are greedy, and who are set on getting drunk, and who are abusive in their relationships, and who cheat others. God loves sinners of every shape and size and has good plans for us all!

And Romans 5:8 Paul makes clear that “God demonstrates His Own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. He didn’t love us once we got our acts together and purged all the sin from our lives. In this the whole human race is addressed: While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

If you have come here today because you have perceived the Father’s love for you, don’t let that trick you into thinking that your lifestyle must then be OK to God. Because God shows us His love by sending Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners.

At the same time, if you have come here today because you’ve perceived the Father’s love for you, then let the truth of that fill you with awe and wonder: The almighty, perfect, and holy God loves a wicked sinner like you. Let that fill you with awe and wonder: The almighty, perfect, and holy Son of God has taken off His divinity, and humbled Himself to live the weak and finite life of a human being, and died because He loves a wicked sinner like you.

If you have perceived the Father’s love for you, let it take you to your knees today in amazement at such an act; such a gift; such a love. And if you’ve received the Holy Spirit’s gift of God’s love into your heart, the only right response is to be so in awe of His washing away our guilt, and so in awe of the power He’s given us over sin, to now leave our every sinful practice and behavior behind and live to give Him all the credit and praise.

Our Father in Heaven can and wants to satisfy the love a gay person – and every person – is longing for: Those desires for love that lead us into homosexual behavior and stealing and cheating and greed… And the Father can – the Father has – and He desires for you and me to transform us and our desires so that our adulterous desires for others outside of our marriages, so that our attractions to other religions and powers, so that our desires for drinking or food or drugs might be satisfied by His love. And as He satisfies us with His great love, and as He sanctifies us and we let Him grow us to be more and more like Jesus, our sinful desires are replaced by His Own perfect and life-giving desires and His Own perfect will. So that our lives that were once filled with longing and desire and need and wanting more and more and more, can be transformed into lives fulfilled by the love and security of a good Father in Heaven: Lives of peace, joy, and contentment in the Holy Spirit, where we can plan our day and our lives and make our decisions based – not on our worry or discontent – but on His righteous will.

John 3:16 says that ¹⁶ “For God loves gay people and all people so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that every person who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent His Son to gay people and to all people not to judge them, but to save them through Him.

If you’re here and are struggling with homosexual attractions, don’t keep it a secret to yourself: Tell someone; let it out! Of course, whatever your struggle and temptation, don’t keep it to yourself: Confide in someone whom you know you can trust to encourage you and pray for you. Last week we were talking about having a discipleship partner, someone we can share our temptations and struggles, our victories and falls with, who will support us in living by faith, hold us accountable, and pray for us. Get a partner. Confess your sins to one another. Be healed! And live! The Father wants to adopt you and wash you clean and grow you in holiness until you and I are just like Jesus!

O the plans He has for me and you!

1 Thessalonians 1:1 [NLTse]

¹ This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

May God give you grace and peace.

When you were a kid, who was your favorite team of heroes?

Batman and Robin?

Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock?

The Lone Ranger and Tonto?

Obi-Wan and Anakin?

Others…?

Let’s turn in our Bibles to Genesis 2… This is the record of Creation. In Chapter 1 we read that “God created human beings in His Own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (v. 27) But as that gets spelled-out here in Chapter 2 only man has been created yet, only “Adam”. But then God said, in v. 18: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” And then, after creating all the animals to see if they might be a fitting “helper” for him, God made a woman from the side of the man. (What’s been traditionally translated, from out of Adam’s “rib”.) And when Adam awoke from the sleep God had put him in, he looked at the woman and said, “At last! This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh!” (v. 23)

For many centuries this idea of woman as “helper” to man was seen as God creating her to be lesser – subservient – to the man: He the master; she the helper. But the Hebrew word ??? (ezer) is not one of position, with the man being higher and the woman being lower in the relationship. No. As a matter of fact, our Father uses the same word to describe His Own relationship with us.

Let’s turn in our Bibles to the psalms: Psalm 27… Look to v. 9 with me, where David sings: “Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my ??? (ezer) – my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation!”

And Psalm 70 sings: “But as for me, I am poor and needy; please hurry to my aid, O God. You are my helper and my savior; O LORD, do not delay.” (v. 5)

And Psalm 115: “O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield.” (vv. 9-11)

A “helper” – an ??? (ezer) – is not a servant or a sidekick but an ally, a partner, one who has the ability to help and is willing to help. (And that help can be offered by one of greater power, lesser power, or equal but different power.) The point I believe our Father’s given me to make today is that “it is not good for us to be alone”: It’s not good for us to be alone in this life; it’s not good for us to be alone as we live this life by faith.

We see this applied to the life of faith when Christ Jesus sent out the seventy to go ahead of Him into the towns and villages He was planning to visit during His preaching ministry. Let’s turn to Luke 10… “The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places He planned to visit.” (v. 1)

We see this two-by-two “staffing” continue among Christ’s people as we read the Book of Acts: Peter and John are always mentioned as being together; and Paul and Barnabas; and then Paul and Silas; and the “we” statements across Acts are recognized as indicating when Luke (who wrote Acts) was traveling and ministering together with Paul and the others.

In our reading today from Paul’s letter To the Thessalonians, the apostle is writing in partnership with Silas and Timothy. In another of his letters he writes with Sosthenes (who had been one of the leaders of the Corinthian synagogue before he became a Christian), and, of course, Paul’s letters are filled with the names of those he’s traveling with, ministering with, whom he is helping and those who are helping him.

Would you turn with me to Ecclesiastes 4… In v. 7 King Solomon writes: “I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, ‘Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?’ It is all so meaningless and depressing.”

Which inspires him to go on and write: “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer…” (4:7-12)

I’m not trying to beat an already dead horse this morning, but I am feeling the Lord speak to me – speak to us – very clearly that we are not to live this life Jesus has saved us for alone. No, He’s made us and called us and put us to death and given us a new life to live together.

When we read a book we often like to find another who’s read it to discuss it and hear their what spoke to them and enjoy it more fully. We’ll often play sports against others – especially those of a similar skill level – to help challenge us and grow our skills. We often work out or diet with others for accountability, support, and encouragement. It’s nice to hike or dive with another for companionship and safety. Shopping with others gives us added insight and wisdom in our purchasing. We build or craft things together to share talents and tools. Adventures are better with a friend so we can retell the stories and relive the wonder and awe. We watch movies and share music with those around us to share the laughter and cry together and get to share our inspiration with those closest to us.

In just the same way, we need a partner, an ally, a helper in the Christian-life to discuss discipleship ideas, to encourage one another in following Jesus more fully, to stand together against the attacks and deceit of the Enemy, to benefit from each other’s wisdom, to be held accountable to promises we’ve made and commitments to repent and change, to learn from other’s experiences and share ours with them, to tell and re-tell each other’s stories of victory and forgiveness and transformation along the Way, and to laugh together and cry together as the Holy Spirit grows us more and more into Jesus’ likeness. The benefits go on and on…

But this “prayer partner”, this “accountability friend”, this “discipleship helper” God is calling us to is not just an “aid” our Father wants for us just so that we can enjoy and benefit more fully in following Jesus. No, we need this helper. Turn with me to the prophet Jeremiah 17:9… The Lord is telling Jeremiah that only He is able to fully and fairly judge people, because, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” (vv. 9-10) We need others to hold us accountable, to study the Bible with, and to challenge us as we live the Christian life because the human heart is deceitful: We rationalize, we misinterpret, we overlook, we pretend, we see only the log in the other person’s eye. We need a brother or a sister to “sharpen us” and help us see our life – the good, the bad, the faithful, and the unfaithful – the way it really is, more clearly than we are able to on our own.

Husbands and wives make a natural pairing for this except that men and women often experience very different kinds of temptations, and it can be helpful to have a discipleship partner who has insights and compassion for our trials. Another reason not to partner with your spouse is that men often have trouble sharing with their wives some of the things that tempt them, and women likewise. And our discipleship helper – our accountability partner – needs to be someone we can be transparent with: Laying the victories and failures of our souls open before them. We need someone we can be open and honest with, whom we can: u Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (5:16)

So you can partner with your spouse but I’d recommend that, men, you find another man, and that, women, you find another woman. There might be three of you together, but I wouldn’t recommend having four or more. Two (or three) is a nice grouping to allow everyone to share as deeply as each one needs, and to allow us to bear one another’s burdens without getting overwhelmed.

Reach out to someone whom you know and enjoy or whom you think you would like to get to know and would enjoy; somebody you can be honest and vulnerable with and whom you believe would be honest and open with you; someone who’s at a similar level of Christian maturity as you believe you are (because this isn’t a mentoring or counseling relationship but a partnership mutually caring for each other’s soul); and, of course, you want it to be a person you can meet with regularly to share, challenge, and pray with together. Your goal should be to meet in person together weekly, or at the most every other week. (You can meet over the phone occasionally, but try to be in person as often as you can.)

The agenda for your time together can be pretty simple:

Begin in prayer; then,

Share together what the Holy Spirit has been revealing to you (in Worship, in your devotional/quiet times reading Scripture and praying, in your daily experiences and ministry work, etc…); then,

Share those areas where you are currently struggling or facing ongoing temptation, asking for specific prayer and support, first one of you then the other; and then,

End your time by praying for one another and setting your next meeting time.

This isn’t an intellectual exercise: “Yes, I can see that the Lord is calling and how it would benefit me to have a prayer and accountability partner…” No. Look around you. Think about who might fit this critical role in your life. Pray: Ask God to show you this special helper. And then meet, challenge each other, support each other, pray for each other, and live! He has more abundance for us than we are enjoying…

Jesus says, “When two or three are gathered together in My name I am meeting there with them.” (Ch:vv) And after speaking about the blessings of life “two-by-two”, Ecclesiastes 4:12 ends saying “a threefold cord is not quickly broken”. When we commit and humble ourselves to live His Way with another Jesus promises us He’s with us binding Himself around us – and giving us His Own strength and empowerment: A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Romans 16:1-16 [NLTse]

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in [SEHN-kree-ay] Cenchrea. ² Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God’s people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me.

³ Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. ⁴ In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. ⁵ Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home.

Greet my dear friend Epenetus. He was the first person from the province of Asia to become a follower of Christ. ⁶ Give my greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.

¹⁰ Greet Apelles, a good man whom Christ approves. And give my greetings to the believers from the household of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet the Lord’s people from the household of Narcissus. ¹² Give my greetings to Tryphena and Tryphosa, the Lord’s workers, and to dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, whom the Lord picked out to be His very Own; and also his dear mother, who has been a mother to me.

¹⁴ Give my greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who meet with them. ¹⁵ Give my greetings to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas and all the believers who meet with them. ¹⁶ Greet each other in Christian love. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.

Phoebe: Paul writes that she was a deacon (or a deaconess, sometimes called) in the church of [SEHN-kree-ay] Cenchrea, a port-city about six miles east of Corinth on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. But who was she? Was she married? Widowed? An older woman? A younger woman? Did she have any children? She seems to be the carrier of this letter to the Roman-Christians, but has she come to Rome on business – was she a business woman? – or did she make the trip especially just to bring Paul’s message? We don’t know… We just know that she lived for Christ, and we know these comments about her her character and service for Christ…

Priscilla and Aquila: Though never specifically stated as being husband and wife, it is generally assumed that they were since they’re always mentioned together. Clearly, at one time they’d saved Paul’s life, risking their own in doing so. Since normally the husband’s names would be listed first (as we’ll see a bit later), Priscilla seems to have been of a higher standing in Roman society than Aquila, or perhaps she served a more prominent role in the church. And yet, even knowing these things, these folks are still for the most part just names, and there’s so much we don’t know except that they lived for Christ, and these comments about their character and their service for Christ…

“Epenetus” was a common name among slaves and those who’d been legally freed from slavery, called “freedmen”: He was the first Christian in what they called “Asia” – where the Galatian and Cappadocian regions were located, and Paul’s home-city of Tarsus, and Ephesus and the seven cities of The Revelation – the area that today we call “Turkey”.

Maria might have just been the Latin form of the Hebrew name “Miriam” (often translated “Mary” in the New Testament), but it might also be a designation that she was a Roman citizen.

Andronicus and Junia are the other husband-wife pair I mentioned earlier, and here Andronicus is mentioned first as is normal for that day. Andronicus is a Jewish name and Junia specifically is a name for indicating her Roman citizenship. Paul tells us they were imprisoned with him at some point, though we never hear anything more about that in Paul’s other letters or even across Luke’s records in The Book of Acts. But they were apostles – not of the original Twelve, of course – and highly respected among those who had been specifically sent out to spread the good news and extend Christ’s Kingdom! But again, whether older or younger? How they became apostles? How they met Paul? There is so much we don’t know except for these short words about their lives in Christ and these brief comments about their character and brief record of their service for Christ…

Ampliatus and Urbanus, Stachys and Apelles, were all common slave-names found in the Imperial household. Phlegon was a common slave name. The households of Aristobulus and Narcissus may refer to freed slaves of Herod the Great’s grandson, Aristobulus, who spent his lifetime in Rome, and Narcissus – a very uncommon name – likely refers to a man who was himself a freedman who rose to become one of the most powerful people in the entire Roman Empire under emperor Claudius’ reign in the 40’s and early 50’s A.D…

So there’s some we do know and yet so much we don’t know about these earliest of Christians, but we do know they were Romans and Greeks, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slaves and freedmen, common people and prominent Roman citizens; we know that they lived their lives and risked their lives for Jesus Christ and each other, and that they served the Lord and His Kingdom in ways the renowned apostle Paul found noteworthy!

In similar manner, the historical records of Milford and Pike County and First Presbyterian Church are littered with the names of men and women who also clearly lived their lives for Christ and left records of their transformed character, and their lives of service for Christ and His Kingdom…

Bartholomew Weed was a blacksmith, and is recorded as being the first “praying man” in that early wilderness and logging community of Milford. Such were his prayers and his praying that his house was stoned and he was openly laughed at! Jacob Quick, likely a part of that early Tom Quick clan, was a lawyer who held evangelistic prayer services that were often broken up by the rough and rowdy among his neighbors. In 1822 we read that Quick joined with some other townsmen by the names of Francis Smith, John Lafarge, John Brink, George Bowhannan, and a D. Jayne to petition the State of Pennsylvania for permission to establish “The Presbyterian Congregation of Milford”. We know nothing else about these men, they are names on a page, except that they lived their lives, taking risks and making sacrifices, for Jesus Christ and to spread the good news of His Kingdom.

A man named Moses Bross started a prayer meeting in the old Court House (now the Sheriff’s Office) soon after he moved to Milford. And from these prayer meetings began a Sunday School called “the Presbyterian Sunday School”, also held in the then Court House. A man named James Wallace was the first Sunday School Superintendant, and the teachers were Mr.’s Samuel Depuy, William Freel, and Mrs.’s Louisa Ross, Jane Depuy, and Caroline Wells. They taught from the Bible and Noah Webster’s Spelling Book. (Which – believe it or not – was quite a Christ-centered work even being a spelling book!)

When “The Church and Congregation of Milford” was first formed Moses and Jean Bross, Samuel and Eliza Depuy, Mitty Watkin, Elizabeth Westfall, and Jacob Quick were the founding members, though that must not be a complete listing since James Wallace (who wasn’t mentioned) along with Moses Bross and Jacob Quick became the first Ruling Elders. And we know that Samuel Depuy and Jacob Quick were lawyers since the designation “esquire” appears regularly after their names, but we don’t know if they were older or younger, what brought them to Milford, among the fifty children that were part of that going-strong Sunday School were any of those kids theirs? We don’t know, we just know they lived their lives for Christ and served Him and His Kingdom in these ways…

September 25^th, 1825 the Reverend Thomas Grier (who only came to Milford every 3^rd Sunday from his pulpit in Westtown, NY) led worship, preached the Word, and ordained those first Elders, and so September 25^th is considered the birthday of the Presbyterian Church of Milford.

Evangelistic meetings were held, until by the fall of 1832 “most of the leading men of the town had joined” the church! So you local history buffs, as you read about Milford and its goings-ons in the early and middle 1800’s leading up to the Civil War and beyond, you’re reading the stories of the men and women and families of not only Milford but of First Presbyterian Church of Milford, as well! The fruit of the lives of Christ-changed men and women.

Knowing all this, even so, many of those men and women and young men and young women are just names, perhaps men and women and young men and young women who are known for their secular pursuits and accomplishments across other aspects of our local history, but known in Heaven, and their words and deeds recorded forever that were done because they’d given their lives to Jesus Christ in service to His Church and His Kingdom…

This reading from The Letter to the Hebrews seems to take on added weight and mandate this 187th Anniversary, and this our first Sunday in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church:

Hebrews 12:1-4 [NLTse]

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion Who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

There are many names scattered across the Scriptures and across our history books, names and sometimes faces we know so little about, but God knows. Ordinary men and women who are remembered and recorded as being great because God chose them to be His Own, because God forgave their sin and brought them near to Him in Christ, because God gave them His Spirit to live within them and “By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death.

“But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.”

Among us this morning I think only Ron Gregory’s name is in the current “history book” of First Presbyterian Church. I wonder what future follower of Christ will be looking for inspiration, reading, and asking, “What a great man of God Ron Gregory was. I want to live my life for Christ like he did!” It’s a great privilege for us all. It’s a great responsibility for us all!

But even if we don’t make it into human print, each and every one of us who bear the name of Christ – written across our foreheads it’s so easy to know Whose we are, The Revelation writes – everything we are in Christ has been recorded in Heaven: The ways His character has sanctified our character, the way His life has our lives new, all we’ve done for Him and sacrificed for Him (not to earn His love or salvation but because we love Him and because His Spirit lives in us), it’s all written, not one thing missed, for the angels to “Wow!” over and the saints who’ve gone before us to celebrate and worship Christ for in Heaven.

So let’s strip off everything that keeps us from Christ, especially those sins we may be stuck in; it’s an endurance race, so let’s get our minds set to apply ourselves for the long-haul; let’s keep our eyes on Jesus: He’s the One Who started it all and Who said, “It is finished” when He opened the way to God, and Who will return to make all things new and lead us home; let’s focus on the joy the Holy Spirit gives and the joy Jesus Christ has promised will be ours! putting up with trials and hardships when they come (if that’s what living for Him and expanding His Kingdom brings); let’s not become weary; let’s not give up.

Now may the God of peace—Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with His blood—may He equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. All glory to Him forever and ever! Amen.