Lenten Message -- Search Me

First Sunday of Lent

Search Me, O God

 

Today is the first Sunday of Lent – a season within the Church liturgical calendar designed to lead the faithful Christian into a deeper relationship with Christ. I’ll speak more about that in a few moments, but first, let’s look at our primary text for today’s message which sets the stage – so to speak – for all that I want to bring to us this afternoon. Please follow along as I

read from Genesis 36:31-39

 

“Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel. Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. Then Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah became king in his place. Then Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites became king in his place. Then Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field of Moab, became king in his place; and the name of his city was Avith. Then Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah became king in his place. Then Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates River became king in his place. Then Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor became king in his place. Then Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar became king in his place . . . .”

 

I hope you caught my repeated emphasis on the verb, ‘died.’ Everyone in this sanctuary is sadly and mournfully acquainted with death. I know about death. My mom is dead. My father and my adopted father are both dead. My brother-in-law is dead. Nancy’s mom, dad and stepdad are all dead. My cousin is dead. Nancy’s cousin is dead. Another of her cousin’s wife is dead. And many of our friends are dead.

 

And one day I will be dead. Nancy will be dead. You will be dead. Our children who survive us will one day be dead. And such is the pattern of life since the Garden of Eden.

 

Several years ago, I learned a Latin phrase, Memento Mori. The meaning of the phrase resonates with me, and I’ve mentioned it before. It means, “Remember, you must die.”

 

The origin of the phrase goes back to a custom in ancient Roman society. When a general returned to the city after a great victory on the battlefield, he’d parade through the streets on a golden chariot to the cheers of the crowd. But because such tributes could lead to pride and a false sense of his own importance, a slave –one of the humblest servants – was to remind him of his mortality by whispering to him: “Look behind, remember that you are a man”.

 

For the same reason, “Memento mori” has often been used to remind great men that regardless of their exploits and glories, their epilogue is the same as everyone else’s: One day they will die.

 

Now, I admit at the outset of today’s message, that all of this talk about death sounds dark and depressing. But truth be told on this first Sunday of Lent, “Memento mori” is an invitation to wisely reflect on the brevity of life – and on the vanity of human ambitions.

 

Solomon understood life’s brevity and the uselessness of accolades and possessions. Listen to what he wrote: “For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other . . . all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 3:19.

 

And at the end of his life he offered this counsel to all who have ears to hear: “[This is the] conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13b-14)

 

Now then, all of what I have said these last few minutes segues us back to the season of Lent. Lenten preparation usually includes fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.

 

So yes, Lent is very much associated with death, which is why Christians receive ashes on their forehead, to symbolize our eventual death and remind us of our human frailty. That’s why the pastor recites these sober words of warning as he places the ashes on the forehead: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return. Repent, and believe the gospel.” 

 

Very much like what the victorious Roman general would hear: “Look behind you. You are just a man.”

I pause for a moment to reiterate a most important point: While Lent is strongly associated with death, Lent is ALSO strongly associated with the hope – the expectation – of eternal life which Christ alone offers to anyone who receives by faith His gift of forgiveness and the remission – the erasing – of their sins. And that’s why confession and honest repentance are so integral to this season of preparation.

 

Some might ask how a person prepares for both death AND for the hope of eternal life. Well, let’s let the word of God guide us. For example, here is Mark 1:1-4 – “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

 

How to prepare? First – repentance and ongoing, day by day taking ownership of our sins – as King David took ownership of his adulterous sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. Listen to his ‘mea culpa,’’ his admission to God that his sins were his own fault: “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight.” (Psalm 51:1-4)

 

I pause again to make this further point about Lent because there always lurks behind this season’s observance the danger of compartmentalizing our self-examinations, There’s a danger that through the rest of the year we dilute the Holy Spirit’s voice to our souls to put aside even what we might like to call ‘little’ sins.

 

Human nature is such that we usually prefer to avoid the hard part of DAILY carrying our cross, of DAILY living the Christian life with a holy integrity. It’s human nature to slowly, nearly imperceptibly, harden ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s daily call to live lives marked by ongoing repentance. It’s just easier to set such things aside and bring them forward only during the various liturgical seasons.

 

Repent. That’s what John told those coming to him for baptism to do. And the first recorded words of Jesus were the same. Listen to Mark 1:15 where the Lord announced: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

 

Repentance is not a popular idea in our culture – which ought not surprise us. It was the Lord Jesus who said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:24); And again (Matthew 7:13b-14) “The gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

 

Repentance. I wonder if that might be a reason the Lord warned His followers: “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I say, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:23-24

 

I think it’s hard for a rich man to get into heaven when they trust in their own resources and their own philanthropic ‘goodness’ instead of living a life marked by mea culpas. And although the Lord didn’t say it, I think it’s just as hard for someone who’s lived for decades outside of true Christian faith to come to a saving faith because once they realize they’ve been wrong all this time about sin, righteousness, and judgment – it’s hard for them to lay aside their pride and admit to God AND to others that they’ve been wrong for 50, 60, or 70 years.

Listen: It’s as true today as it was when St Paul penned these words to the Christians at Corinth: “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  

 

And what is that word of the cross? Certainly ‘repentance’ threads its way through the warp and woof of God’s message to humanity. There can be no salvation without true repentance. Christ’s atoning sacrifice on that cross can be of no value to anyone without true repentance.

 

But there is yet another word of the cross, a word directly related to repentance, and we would be wise to pay attention to this truth: The attitude of REVERENCE and a healthy fear of Almighty God is the second means of preparation for the celebration of Easter and a year-round walk with Christ.

 

The greater our awareness of God’s holiness, of His glory, and His majesty, the greater will be our reverence and our healthy fear of Him. And the greater our reverence and fear, the greater will be the self-debasing of our pride and of our greater desire to fall on our faces in repentance.

 

Let me say a few words by way of example about what I mean by a healthy fear of God. He loves us, loves us like the Rock of Ages. He sacrificed His own Son on that Cross so we might live in glory with Him.

 

BUT – although He loves us, loves us, loves us – He is not one to be trifled with. He is not one to be dismissed. He is not one to be taken for granted. He is not a doting Grandfather-type who turns a blind eye to our sins. He is the unequaled holy Lord and Creator of the heavens and earth. The brightness of the noonday sun is pitch dark when compared to the brilliance of His holiness.

 

You may remember what Isaiah said when he saw the glory of God: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts”; The apostle John, when he saw the Lord Jesus in His majesty, wrote: “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.” (Revelation 1:17). To the great Moses, God said, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)

 

When God gave His commandments to Israel and Mount Sinai, Moses wrote: “All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance . . .  ²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” (Exodus 20:18, 20)

 

The Christian’s healthy fear of God – wherein we know He loves us, but we are also assured that He will punish our disobedience and irreverence – it is that fear of God that will keep us from sin.

But I perceive much of the Church has lost its fear of God. Otherwise, how is it that so many, even in pews and pulpits, are so cavalier with the Holy, Holy God – even to refer to Him as ‘the man upstairs”?

 

How? I think it’s the result of either our thorough lack of understanding of who we are and who HE is – or it’s a consequence of our presumption of God, of taking Him for granted. And make no mistake, presumption inevitably builds an ever-darkening barrier between us and God.

 

Indeed, if one properly observes Lent with a renewed focus on repentance and reverence, we’ll recognize that barrier is our conscious or unconscious attempt to not only dilute God’s glory in our eyes, but also to diminish in our minds our grave need for honest and daily repentance.

 

It’s not possible to treat God with the reverence He deserves and which He requires when we excuse away our sins, even what we call little sins. Truth be told, there is no such thing as a sin so little that is not damnable if not repented.

 

And make no mistake, irreverence inexorably leads to presumption – deadly presumption. We find a plethora of tragic examples in Scripture of irreverent presumption. One example occurs early in the Torah. Not only were the priests Nadab and Abihu sons of Aaron the High Priest – but they received an invitation from God to dine with Him (Exodus 24:9-11). And yet, not many days later, God killed them when they performed their priestly office “with strange fire” (See Leviticus 10:1-2).

We can’t know for certain what the strange fire was, but I infer from the context that the two sons of Aaron treated God with neither obedience nor reverence. Perhaps they presumed on their relationship with God because they’d eaten a meal with Him. Perhaps they believed they no longer needed to act as reverently or as obediently toward God as He required of others. Perhaps they presumed they were among His ‘favorites.’

Presumption toward the Almighty is a perilous attitude because it deceives us into thinking our walk of holiness and of God’s unchanging requirement for our ongoing obedience, holiness, and repentance does not strictly apply to us.

 

After Macbeth learned of his wife’s death, he voiced a grim monologue of life – not too unlike Job’s grief-stricken defense to his three so-called ‘counselors.’

 

Listen to Macbeth tell it: “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot; Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

 

Macbeth, like Job and Solomon and countless others before him and after him gives honest reflection to life’s brevity and the vanity of possessions and tributes and power and wealth. And the Lenten season, if properly observed, helps bring a godly perspective to it all.

 

“As for the days of our life,” wrote Moses, “they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years; Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away . . . .  ¹²So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:10, 12)

 

I close today’s message with this counsel: As we heard at the beginning my message when I quoted from Genesis 36 the litany of those who died, the Latin phrase, Memento mori, should be the theme of our lives – not just during the 40 days of Lent, but through the remainder of our years. We each need frequent reminder that we will die – and after that comes God’s judgment. That sober recognition ought to make King David’s prayer resonate with each of us and compel us to often ask God:

 

 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24

 

Yes, Lord, search us and lead us in the everlasting way and build within us a lifestyle of honest and ongoing repentance and of great reverence for You. Amen and amen.

 

Ashamed of the Gospel

 Ashamed of the Gospel

My text today comes from the first chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. I focus today’s message on this text because it’s a necessary and critically important truth that we must hear, especially in our religiously pluralistic American culture:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, (the apostle wrote,) “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the [Gentile].” (Romans 1:16)

One definition of ‘ashamed’ is to be reluctant or unwilling to do something because of embarrassment. Paul’s text here in Romans 1 cuts to the heart of a growing problem facing many of today’s Christians in America because the media, the educational system, the courts, the marketplace, Hollywood, and even many churches have been slowly squeezing Christians into the mold called ‘religious pluralism.’ That ought to frighten us because that mold has the effect of reducing Jesus the Christ to just one of many religious teachers and prophets.

Religious pluralism is the belief that different religious worldviews are equally valid, equally true, and equally acceptable to God. Therefore, all religious roads lead to God.

If anyone thought the ‘all roads lead to God’ philosophy through to its logical conclusion, the idea doesn’t make sense on any level. There can only be one truth, not a half-dozen. For example, the doctrines of Judeo-Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are not only diverse in their understanding of sin, righteousness, and judgment, but they are each diverse in their understanding of the nature of God.

Tragically – and I use that word purposely – a growing number of Christians in our modern pluralistic era – even those who have been in the Church for decades – are becoming increasingly reluctant to draw a proverbial line in the sand and boldly and unapologetically declare what the Bible declares to be the ONLY truth – that which is found in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures about sin, righteousness, judgment – and specifically what God tells us of the Person and role of Jesus in our eternal destiny.

A study conducted last year by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research found that almost half of evangelicals (47%) believe “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.” Another eight percent are unsure. Said another way, only 45% of evangelical Christians fully believe the Bible when it tells us Jesus Christ is the ONLY road to eternal life that is acceptable to God.

Clearly, that's a hard truth for many today to swallow in our age of religious pluralism. But God has never been one to mince words. He has never been one to equivocate or be ambiguous. And neither should we His servants when people ask us the reason for our hope of eternal life.

Only biblically-based Christianity holds the definitive answer to the question about sin, forgiveness of sins, eternal judgment, and eternal life. And I emphasize ‘biblically based’ because there are multitudes in seminaries, church pulpits and church pews who do not believe the bible to be the final and unconditionally authoritative verdict of Almighty God, revealed to humanity as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Let me repeat that for emphasis. There are not multiple truths about sin and forgiveness of sins, eternal judgment and eternal life. There is only ONE truth. And that truth is what we call the ‘gospel’ – the manifestation of God’s love for humanity and fully evidenced by His sacrificial offering of His Son Jesus as payment for our sins.

God tells us from Genesis through Revelation, our nature is thoroughly and hopelessly corrupted by sin. On the other hand, God’s nature is thoroughly and ineffably holy. The bad news is in all that is this: Without God's personal intervention, our utter sinfulness and God’s incomprehensible holiness can never be reconciled. But the good news is in all that is this: God DID intervene in humanity’s otherwise hopeless situation.

Therefore, it is only that gospel message – that ‘good news message’ – that holds the only key to eternal life. Why? Because the gospel is God’s specific revelation how and why God sent His Son to die on that cross and be resurrected from death on the third day.

Please do not mistake this point: God’s divine revelation in the Christian Bible and His divine intervention into sin-saturated humanity that completely separates Christianity from ALL other religions – past or present.

I wonder if many of those in pulpits and in pews each Sunday have developed a scorn of the apostle Paul’s warning: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) And do they summarily dismiss what he added later in the same letter to the church at Rome: “The wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

The preposition, ‘in’ Christ Jesus our Lord, is critical. It is only those who are IN Christ Jesus who receive the free gift of God. No one else. Not Muslims. Not Hindus. No one. Not even Jews who reject Messiah Jesus’ sacrificial atonement for their sins. Only biblical Christianity can correctly answer the question: What can wash away my sins? What can make me whole again?

The answer is: Nothing can make us whole again except the blood of Jesus.

I want to make sure I am as clear in my explanation as I possibly can. What do bible-based Christians mean when we talk of Jesus’ sacrificial atonement for our sins? It’s this:

God’s utter holiness requires divine judgement of sin. There is no wiggle room in God’s righteousness to overlook even what we might call minor sins. But on the other hand, God’s love arouses His mercy toward the sinner.

The tension between God’s judgment and His love resulted in the Mosaic sacrificial system which joined the two under the cleansing power of blood – sacrificial blood. The last half of Exodus, and the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy especially focus attention on the animal sacrifices which functioned as a substitutionary atonement for the sinner. When the Jewish Levitical priests laid their hands on the heads of the sacrificial animals, the sins of the penitent were transferred to the animal who then shed its blood in atonement for the penitent’s sins.

I believe it was St Augustine who said, “The New Testament is concealed in the New, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.” In other words, the Old Testament lays the groundwork – the foundation – of the truths revealed to us in the New Testament. And so, back to the Mosaic sacrificial system – the blood sacrifices pointed to what God would do centuries later on Calvary’s hill.

This divine truth of Christ’s atonement for sins is only one of the scores of God’s truths that make Christianity completely incompatible with every other religion and religious faith.

Speaking of the New Testament concealed in the Old, listen to Isaiah, written seven hundred years before Jesus was born, listen to him speak of that reconciliation:

“He [the Messiah] was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.” (Isaiah 53:3-6, NLT)

Jesus, the perfect and spotless Lamb of God, removed – erased, atoned for – our sins with His own blood when He died on that cross. His bloody death became a substitutionary atonement for all who call on Jesus for forgiveness of their sins. As the apostle Paul reminds us: [God] made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Most people bristle at the idea that we are each and all sinners who justly deserve eternal and forever agonizing punishment. Many of us think of ourselves as not-so-bad, especially when we compare ourselves with REAL sinners – like cold-blooded rapists and murderers.

But when we compare ourselves with others, we merely demonstrate our total ignorance of the infinite holiness of God. The sun itself, in all its noonday brilliance, is as dark as night when placed next to God’s holiness. And God demands our holiness be as HIS holiness. Jesus was not speaking in hyperbole when He commanded us, “Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).

Unlike religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and even Old Covenant Judaism, only the New Covenant Judaism – also known as Christianity – only Christianity holds the answer to the otherwise irreconcilable problem of sin and God’s forgiveness. No other faith addresses God’s holiness and His mercy as Christianity addresses it.

Other faiths tell their adherents if they pray often enough and in the right way, or if they do enough good deeds to outweigh their bad deeds, they might get into heaven.

Christian faith is eternally unique because in – and only in – the Christian Bible God tells us the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. It word tells us salvation is a gift not based at all on our works or our heritage. Salvation is granted to us solely by God’s grace. And because salvation is His undeserves gift, no one can boast and say, “I deserve eternal life.” (see Ephesians 2:8-10)

Listen to what the former Pharisee, St. Paul, wrote to a disciple named Titus: “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

When the same former Pharisee wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the [Gentile] – he was writing to a people steeped in religious pluralism. Rome, and the nation of Greece before Rome, were known for the multiplicity of gods. But God sent Paul to Rome – and throughout Greek speaking Europe and Asia Minor – to tell them the truth about salvation.

God sent Paul, just as He sends us, to a religiously pluralistic world. It’s the Great Commission Jesus Himself commanded of us: Go ye into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Trinity – in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28)

Declaring Jesus as the only way for men and women to gain eternal life will not win many friends among those who want to live and let live, who insist on being open to other ideas about God and eternal life. In our pluralistic culture where it is unpopular to believe in absolute truth, the message of the gospel is a lightning rod for those who disagree with Christ’s exclusive message. Telling others Jesus is the only door to eternal life might also get us killed.

Well, so be it. As St. Paul wrote to the Christians at Galatia, “If I were trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)

As disciples and followers of Jesus, we must decide every day, will we compromise with those who believe all roads lead to heaven? Or will we stand unashamed with Christ, and the history of all the martyrs who died for God’s eternal truth?

God became Man. He lived a sinless life. He died as a substitutionary sacrifice for your sins and mine. Only through Christ can anyone be reconciled with the Father. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Nobodies Telling Everybody

My primary text for today is from the apostle Paul’s letter to those in the church at Rome. Many of you will recognize the text. Many of you will have memorized the text years ago: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

 

And that text reminds me – as it might remind some of you – of what the Lord Jesus told His disciples just before He ascended back to the Father:

 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

 

The gospel: The story – the promise that the Holy God makes to penitent sinners like you and me and every person in this building and every person on this planet. It is the promise of the Holy God to always accept our repentance, the promise to always forgive our sins, to wipe them from His memory, to change the trajectory of our lives, to replace our spiritual darkness with His light, His promise to spare us from His wrath and give us an eternal future with Him.

 

That’s the gospel message in only a few sentences. It’s the message of God’s unmerited, undeserved, and unearned love for each of us.

 

Before I get into the heart of my message, let me tell you about two people I’ve known from my ministry here during the last ten and a half years. The first is an 85-year-old woman. A gentle soul. For years she faithfully attended our bible studies and church services. But, sadly, dementia slowly took control of her mind. And yet, it was always apparent that she loved the Lord Jesus. It was also evident that her love for the Lord sustained her in the increasing fog of her dementia. Eventually, her family moved her to a higher level of care.

 

The other person I knew was in his early 80s. He was also a nice person, and I enjoyed talking with him whenever we were able to sit and talk. But unlike the woman I just told you about, this man didn’t have time for Christ. He made that clear to me on several occasions over the years. He was content with his life without Jesus. And then the day came when he was found dead in his apartment upstairs.

 

So, did God love each of them so much that He sent His only Son to Calvary to pay the penalty for their sins and to offer them eternal life? Of course He did. But of the two, only one accepted God’s offer through Christ. As far as I know the other rejected Christ and went to an agonizing eternity.

 

Those two people serve now as a backdrop to the theme of my message today, the title of which is, “Nobodies Telling Everybody.” Please listen to these words from Isaiah:

 

“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” . . . .Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

What do we know about Isaiah? Not much, except that he was a ‘nobody’ in the history of Israel until he responded to the Lord’s call, “Here I am. Send me.”

 

‘Nobodies’ telling everybody. What is it the Lord Jesus commissioned His disciples to do? If you know your Bible you know what He said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” Matthew 28:19-20

 

Why that commission? Why that COMMAND? Because a joyous eternal life or an agonizing eternal death hang in the balance for everyone. Everyone. You, me, pastors, priests, deacons, person in the pew, our parents, siblings, cousins, friends, neighbors, presidents and prime ministers, kings and queens.

 

Everyone.

 

And I will assure you, on the solid foundation of Scripture, a degree in theology is NOT a prerequisite to make disciples and be a co-labor with Christ to save people from eternal death. What IS required is obedience to Christ.

 

You may remember the story of the demoniac in Mark chapter five. After Jesus cast out the demons, the townspeople begged Jesus to leave their city. As the Lord got ready to go, the formerly demon-possessed man pleaded that he might go with Jesus. But the Lord said this to him: “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19

 

In other words, Jesus told a ‘nobody’ to tell everybody about the Somebody who can save their souls.

 

Think for a moment of Jesus’ disciples – not just the 12, but all those who followed Jesus? They were all virtually unknown in their communities. They were day-laborers. They were fishermen. They were hated tax collectors. Some were prostitutes, others were disabled beggars.

 

They were Nobodies telling everybody.

Here are only a few more Biblical illustrations of ‘nobodies.’ There was Elijah. St James tells us in his epistle that Elijah was a man with a frail human nature just like ours – an imperfect man who nonetheless was committed to God. (James 5:17). And when this ‘nobody’ heard God call him to Mount Carmel to contend with the 450 prophets of Baal, he went.

 

He went even though those hundreds of false prophets had the full support of the godless government run by Queen Jezebel and King Ahab. (1 Kings 18) But after Elijah saw the great miracle God worked on Mt Carmel, what did he do when Jezebel threatened his life? He ran in fear for his life.

 

Yes, Elijah was a man with a frail human nature, just like ours.

 

What about Peter?  He also was a ‘nobody’ before he obeyed God’s call to be a fisher of men. The apostle clearly had his faults, didn’t he? He publicly denied knowing his best friend and Lord – three times. And it was Peter who, years later, was guilty of hypocrisy in his relationship with Gentile Christians.

 

And while the apostle Paul was certainly not a ‘‘nobody’’ in his Jewish culture, he also had his share of frailties that didn’t end after he met Christ. You may remember he confessed in his letter to the Christians at Rome how wretched a sinner he was – doing what he didn’t want to do and not doing what he wanted to do. And then there was that thorn in his flesh – what it was no one knows – but it dogged him until the day of his death.

 

We could spend two college semesters examining the lives of so-called ‘nobodies’ throughout Scripture who turned their world upside down for the one true God.

 

And we could spend entire college semesters examining the so-called ‘nobodies’ in church history who turned their world upside down for Jesus; People like Monica, the mother of Augustine of Hippo, or of Francis of Assisi, or John Wycliff, Fanny Crosby, George Mueller, John Newton, Amy Carmichael, William Wilberforce – all former ‘nobodies’ who simply said “Yes” to God’s call to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. Nobodies just like you and me – who can do great things for God, if only we’d say, ‘Yes’ to His call.  

As I prepared this message I thought of the song by the Christian group, Casting Crowns. Here are some of the lyrics of their song titled: “‘nobody’”:

 

“Why You ever chose me/Has always been a mystery/

All my life I've been told/ I belong at the end of the line
With all the other Not-Quites/With all the Never-Get-It-Rights
But it turns out they're the ones/ You've been looking for all this time
“'Cause I'm just a ‘nobody’/Trying to tell everybody/All about Somebody who saved my soul.

 

Many Christians put people like Elijah and Isaiah and Peter and Paul on pedestals, surrounded by halos. We tend to think we could never be so valuable to God’s kingdom as they were. And it’s a terrible mistake to think that.

Certainly, those men and women deserve our respect, even our emulation. But to suggest they were super-Christians is something for which I am certain they themselves would rebuke us. Their spiritual strength rested squarely and exclusively on the Rock of Christ – just as yours and mine must always rest.

 

In our current culture where the gospel is mocked – and with increasing frequency Christians find themselves on the wrong end of political correctness when they proclaim God’s truths which contradict the culture’s version of truth. And in this current culture, God help us to never be ashamed of the gospel, to never compromise the gospel, to never dilute the gospel, because the gospel of Christ is the ONLY power of God to salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jews and to the non-Jews. There is no other name – no other road under heaven – by which we must be saved.

 

The year 2026 is not a time for Christians to be silent about the gospel. The night is rapidly descending when no one will be able to work openly for Christ. Charlie Kirk is only the latest American martyr who died because of his bold and unwavering Christian faith. And he will not be the last American Christian martyr.

 

A newly released report shows that in 2024 churches in the US were targeted in 415 separate acts of hostility including vandalism, arson, bomb threats, and gun-related incidents.

 

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins describes the trend as a sign of a deepening cultural hostility toward faith. He added, “The American ‘woke’ Left has been intentional in spreading its hostility toward the Christian faith throughout every corner of America.”

 

Another troubling statistic, this one reported by the religious advocacy group, Catholic Vote, found that of the hundreds of attacks against Christians and churches – only 30% resulted in arrests. Said another way, 70% of the perpetrators got away with their violent anti-Christian bigotry.

 

And just last week . . . Did you read about the mob that invaded a Minnesota church last Sunday during their worship service, terrifying both adults and children?

 

Let me now take us back to the healed demoniac – the ‘nobody’ to whom Jesus said, “Return to your people and tell them what great things God has done for you.”

 

Which ought to beg these next two question for application: So, ‘Nobody’ – what has Christ done for you? And how can you share Him with others? Here are four Biblically rooted strategies to make disciples of all nations.

 

The first strategy involves talking the gospel. Do our friends and acquaintances know we attend church, prayer meetings, or Bible studies? Do they ever hear us talk of our faith in Jesus? Do they even know we are a Christian? Are we silent when we should speak, and do we speak when we should be silent?

 

Second, the gospel message must also be more than talked. It must also be walked. Does our walk match our talk? Do we ignore or rationalize what the Bible calls sin – as we looked at last week – or are we quick to repent? Are we guilty of gossip, of complaining, of an unwillingness to forgive others? Do we compromise our lifestyle to be accepted by family, friends, or acquaintances? Do we place the approval of friends over the approval of our Savior? Do we vote for politicians who support laws and policies that would cause Jesus to publicly rebuke us?

 

The third strategy to fulfill the Lord’s Great Commission has to do with financial stewardship – to give our dollars to those who do His work in ways and places where we cannot. The apostle John, in his letter to a local church about the itinerant preachers who occasionally visited them, wrote: “Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers . . . Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth. (1 John 1:5, 8)

 

I’ve included in your handout a list of charities and other organizations that I believe are worthy of financial support. Even if you can only afford a dollar a week, it is just as easy for God to multiply whatever we give as it was for Him to multiply the fish and loaves. But the point is – give what you can to the work of Christ. There isn’t time now to quote the 25th chapter of Matthew’s gospel, but I urge you to read it in its entirety on your own. All three stories in that chapter are interrelated.

 

Finally, strategy number four: Prayer. Do not think lightly of the power of prayer. Neither walking nor talking nor giving can accomplish much if the much is not undergirded with prayer.

 

As you know from reading the gospels, the Lord Himself spent a lot of time in prayer to the Father. Matthew 14:23, Luke 5:16, and Luke 6:12 are only a few examples. And you remember He taught His disciples to pray – for example, Matthew 6 and Luke 18.

 

And among the disciples, we also know St. Paul believed in the power and efficacy of prayer. When you have time, look at 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 and Ephesians 1:16-19. And then read Colossians 4:2-4.

 

Please hear this: NO ONE is impotent who serves our omnipotent God. Never think prayer is a ‘small thing.’ Remember again what God did with two fish and some loaves of bread. It’s prayer that undergirds ALL the fruitful activities of anyone who strives to fulfill in himself or herself the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. There’s no other supernatural power in all creation more effective than prayer that can defend our family, our friends, our nation, or our church from the supernatural assaults of the devil.

 

Most people on earth do not have a clue of the ferocious and deadly supernatural war waged by Satan and his minions for our eternal souls. And the weaponry of our warfare is not of human strength but of God’s supernatural power. Paul talks of that power in 2 Corinthians 10 and Ephesians chapter six. We cannot turn there now, but I urge you to examine those divine instructions on your own.

 

Let’s go back for a moment to the two people I spoke about at the beginning of my message. It’s for people like them that God sent His Son to die on Calvary. And God has privileged every Christian – of whatever role or age or status in life – God has given us the privilege to work with Him to save others from a life of heartache brought on by sin, and to save them from an eternal agony in the Lake of Fire.

 

God has privileged us to walk and to talk and to give and to pray that others will choose to follow Jesus – before death or dementia robs them of that choice.

 

What has Jesus done for you? Then tell others. Walk the talk. Give.

 

And pray.

 

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

 

 

Repentance: A Command, Not a Suggestion

The Lord Jesus, speaking to the crowds, told them: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

 

Unknown to many people today – but not unknown to most of His listeners – Jesus was quoting God’s words to Israel through Jeremiah: “Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ “And I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ (Jeremiah 6:16-17)

 

In other words, Jesus offered comfort and guidance and grace and forgiveness to his audience in the first century – knowing many of His listeners would respond as those did in Jeremiah’s day – “We won’t come. We won’t listen.”

 

And why would they not? In a word: Rebellion. Arrogant rebellion. They, like many in and out of the Church today, don’t want to follow Christ because they don’t like His commandment to a lifestyle of holiness. Just like those in Jeremiah’s day, and in Jesus’ day, and those in 2026, many in the pews and pulpits like the form of Christianity, but not the demands of Christianity. As one version renders Paul’s warning to Timothy: They will go on pretending to be devoted to God, but they will refuse to let that “devotion” change the way they live.” (2 Timothy 3:5)

 

As I prepared this message, I thought of Jesus’ question to the religious clergy of His day who confronted Him: “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me: Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’” (Luke 20:2-5)

 

My brothers and sisters, a similar question confronts us today. “Are the Scriptures the infallible, inerrant, and fully inspired word of God? Are they ‘letters’ from God’s pen – so to speak – to our hearts? If our answer is yes, then the Lord’s follow-on question is ever current: “Do we obey it?”

 

What I mean by that question is, if Scripture says an unwillingness to forgive is a sin – do we repent? If Scripture says holding on to bitterness is a sin – do we repent? If Scripture says gossip is a sin – do we repent? If it says sexual immorality is sin – do we repent? If jealousy and envy are sin – do we repent?

 

Are we – you and I who call Jesus our King, Master, and Lord – are we striving to obey all His commandments, in little things as well as the big things?

 

This is a serious question, for the Lord warns us: “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” Luke 16:10

 

All that I’ve just said is a preface to the heart of today’s message which centers around the news that broke last week about a widely known and respected author, whose books about Christian faith and God’s grace have been translated into more than 30 languages. Several of his books have earned multiple Gold Medallion Awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. The man and his wife recently celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary.

 

And yet, for the last eight years, while continuing to write books, attend church, and from all appearances was a model Christian – he was betraying his wife and betraying God by routinely committing adultery with another man’s wife.

 

For eight years.

 

Writing about the terrible scandal, theologian Eric Metaxas, said that the deeper issue every Christian must address is how our behavior reveals what we truly believe. The Church often emphasizes faith and grace while forgetting that how we live is evidence of saving faith.

 

In other words, for anyone to make professions of faith in Christ while actively living in contradiction to His commandments profoundly illustrates the terrible reality that true faith has not taken root in that person – ANY person. You. Me. A pastor or priest or teacher, choir member, Sunday School teacher, and so on.

 

Certainly, there is not a Christian in all history who did not stumble from time to time into sin. But ‘stumble’ is not the same as ‘practice.’

 

The apostle John wrote forthrightly and bluntly about the required interplay of faith and behavior: (1 John 1:8-10) “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

 

John continues in the next chapter (1 John 2:1-4) “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

 

Yes, we all know – from a lifetime of experience – we know that we all sin. But to live in the SAME sin day after day, year after year – such a thing simply is impossible for a true Christian. Listen again to John tell it: “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot [practice] sin, because he is born of God.  (1 John 3:9)

 

As St Paul warned Titus about the tares among the wheat that Jesus spoke of (See Matthew 13): "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good." (Titus 1:16)

The unarguable truth is that without a true repentance, without a turning from that sin, then Jesus’ warning will ring bitterly in their ears for eternity:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

 

If any of us think it cannot happen to us, then beware. If we think it cannot happen to us, then we will not be on the lookout for it. If we think it can’t happen to us, then we are at increased risk of falling. Remember what the Lord said to His closest disciples: “Watch and pray. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

 

Yes, God’s grace keeps us from stumbling into sin; BUT we also have a responsibility to do what He commands us to do so we do not stumble. Solomon – who certainly had his problems with sin – Solomon warns us: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)

 

Yes, guard your heart. There is reason that God – who knows the human heart – there is important reason that He repeatedly warns us to stay alert to ourselves, to persevere in holiness, to avoid falling into Satan’s seductions. We bring disaster into our home and into our lives when we try to dilute God’s commandments. We naturally flee from danger. If the house catches fire, we run to safety. If a tornado threatens, we run to safety. But when temptation to sin comes near, too many Christians think they can safely dabble with it.

 

There is only one remedy to avoid falling as the author I spoke of earlier fell, and it’s not simply to read the Bible or to pray every day. While those are certainly critical to a godly life, ultimately our protection against remaining in sin is our humility, manifested by honest repentance.

 

Repentance is what keeps us close to Christ. As I said earlier, if Scripture says a spirit of unwillingness to forgive others, then we must repent. If Scripture says holding on to a root of bitterness is sin, then we must repent. If Scripture says gossip is a sin, then we must repent. If it says sexual immorality is sin, then we must repent – for if we do not repent, if we do not turn from our sin, then we become like those in Jeremiah’s day who told God to His face: “We will not walk. We will not listen.”

 

So, what is the overarching lesson I’m trying to get across to all of us in this message?

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer hit the mark squarely when he wrote: "Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."

It is to our inevitable ruin when we underestimate the ferocious and vicious cunning of Satan’s lies and seductions. That is why I urge you to do something like I have only recently begun doing: I pray virtually EVERY DAY this verse from Psalm 139: “Search me, O Lord . . . and see if there be any wicked way in ME."

 

I know I NEED the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to my sins – especially the sins I successfully keep secret from myself. I fully agree with Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all else and is desperately sick.”

 

I know myself well enough after 53+ years of walking with Jesus -- I need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit when He convicts me of my sin -- ANY sin, big sin, small sin, medium sin -- and I need to repent right there on the spot. For if I make myself insensitive to my sin – any sin – then I begin to harden my own heart against His voice.

And, so do you; And so does anyone else who is slow to repent and turn from sin – any sin. Big sin, small sin, medium sin.

We must never minimize for a moment how desperately we need the Holy Spirit’s supernatural help to run – not walk – from temptation lest we fall into it. Remember Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39).  Day after day she tried to seduce him into her bed. And day after day he rebuffed her invitation, until one day she grabbed him by his cloak – and he fled out of the house.

 

The heart is deceitful above all else. That might be why the Lord Jesus also said to those with ears to hear and hearts to receive truth: “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” Mark 7:20-23

Please listen. It is not enough – it is NEVER enough – to simply walk down an aisle and commit our life to Christ if a life of daily – hourly – repentance is not also part of our life. It is not enough – it is NEVER enough – to be baptized and to receive Holy Communion – if a life of daily – hourly – repentance is not also part of our life.

What happened to author I spoke about earlier illustrates the merciless HOURLY battle Satan brings to our nations, our homes, our churches, our communities, and our lives. Which now brings me to the application of my message: How shall we find protection in this battle?

 

Donning the armor of God (Ephesians 6) is surely necessary. But, as the Holy Spirit has been lately hammering home to me – and I am trying to help you to also see – without ongoing and immediate repentance and a turning from our sin, our armor will be riddled with holes.

 

Without repentance, even for what we like to call ‘little sins’ – without repentance as soon as the Holy Spirit gets our attention that we have offended the King of the Universe, we open ourselves to greater attack and increasing injury to our bodies, our relationships, and our souls.

I fear the fallout over what that popular author did. I fear mostly for the young Christian – by that I mean the spiritually immature Christian who’ve sat in church pews for years, even decades, but never matured in their faith. I think they are most at risk for falling away from Christ because they never rooted themselves in the Scriptures from Genesis through Revelation.

 

I think it is unlikely that mature Christians will stumble because of what he did. Why? Because they know God’s word is true regardless of how professing Christians live – or don’t live. Mature Christians know that God and His word are always true. And as the apostle Paul also reminds us: Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.” Romans 3:4

 

Christian – keep your eyes on Jesus, not on people. Seek refuge and guidance from His infallible Word and nothing else. And please remember what the Lord Jesus said to the crowds on the Mount: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24-27 

 

And do not be slow to repent.