God Meant What He Said

 God Said What He Meant

 

This is an edited text of my September 20 sermon. You can watch the message here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eakw6J6wmUI

 

Why do loving parents give rules to their children?  Don’t touch that electric wall plate. Stay away from the boiling pot on the stove. Hold my hand when we cross the street. Don’t lean against the window screen of our third-floor apartment.  As a child, I hated her rules. As I got older, her rules seemed more unfair. Don’t hang around those kids. If I catch you driving with friends who’ve been drinking, I’ll kill you. Be home before 10.

 

Sometimes I downright didn’t like mom. She was always there to ruin my fun.

 

I can’t help to think our dislike of rules is wedded to our DNA. Like our first parents to whom God gave only ONE commandment – don’t eat the fruit from that tree. There were probably dozens and dozens of other fruit trees in that garden, but Eve and Adam couldn’t stay away from the one with the sign hanging around its trunk – “Don’t eat.”

 

Fast forward to Egypt. After God wrought one mighty miracle after the other to force Pharaoh to let Israel go free, God gave them this simple commandment as they were about to cross into the Promised Land:

 

‘When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; and you shall take possession of the land and live in it . . . But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.” (Numbers 33:51-55)

 

Who were living in the Promised Land? Scripture tells – Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Amorites, Jebusites, and so forth.

 

Archaeological history tells us those cultures were dominated by religious systems that were shamelessly immoral as much as they were maliciously cruel. Temple prostitution, adultery, homosexuality, incest, murder, bestiality, gang rape, and even child sacrifice were their methods of gaining their gods’ approval. Moses tells us in Deuteronomy, those nations “do for their gods every detestable thing that Jehovah hates, even burning their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.” (Deuteronomy 12:31)

 

And so, the God of the universe, the God of Israel gave His people a commandment before bringing them into the Land of Promise – one commandment among many others, to be sure, but this one was as critical as any of His others: “Drive them out! Don’t let then live in the land with you.”

 

God meant what He said and said what He meant. Why? Because He was trying to protect His people from adopting the same unspeakably evil lifestyles and practices as those nations. And what God tells us through St. Paul has proven true time after time since Adam and Eve left the Garden, “Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

 

So, what happened when Israel finally crossed the Jordan and settled in the Promised Land? It is not a pretty picture. We first find this record in the early chapters of Judges. I am reading only a few verses from chapter one.  1:19-33 – “Now the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots. . . . The sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem . . .

 

The same is said of the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali. Virtually all of the 12 tribes that left Egypt with Moses and Joshua ended up living alongside the Canaanites and the other nations – despite their heavenly Father’s specific commandment to destroy them and drive them from the Land.

 

Like a wayward child, Israel ignored the rules. They touched the electric wall switch. They reached for the pot of boiling water on the stove, They leaned against the screen of the third-story window. They didn’t hold God’s hand when they crossed the busy street.

 

It took less than a generation for God’s beloved people to get caught up in the same murderous and salacious sins of their pagan neighbors. All across Israel, apostate kings and priests set up centers of worship for gods such as Ashtaroth and Baal. Even outside the city limits of Jerusalem Israel tossed their children into the fires of Molech. And it all began shortly after God brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey.

 

The book of Judges details some of the most hideous, bloody, and repugnant stories in Scripture. If it’s been a while since you’ve read Judges, you might want to take the time to do so. There are important lessons in that book for every one of us who call ourselves children of God. One story is so X-rated, I will not even summarize it. I will only say this about it: Page after page exudes with the putrefied rot associated with their cultural and religious lifestyles.

 

The account that begins in chapter 19 concludes in chapter 21. The last verse of the last chapter provides the key to understanding this X-rated incident. Indeed, that last verse provides the key to understanding the entire book of Judges, as well as the entire length and breadth of Biblical and post-Biblical history itself, even to today, September 20, 2020.

 

This is the verse: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). You’ll find the same refrain elsewhere in Judges – 17:6; 18:1 and 19:1. “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Judges provides anyone with eyes to see a frightful warning of what happens to a nation and to individuals who “do what is right in their own eyes;” Who hold to the form of religion, but deny God’s authority over their lives. St. Paul talks about this in the first chapter of his letter to the church at Rome. I urge you to read the entire chapter. Here is a portion:

 

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind . . . being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.  

Do you understand why America in particular and the world in general is sinking ever more rapidly into our own quicksand of brutality, hatred, and merciless violence? We even kill our babies as they exit the birth canal and devote their mutilation to our own Molech called ‘Self-interest.”

 

God warned Israel – and by extension – you and me of the disastrous consequences that fall on nations and individuals who adopt the behavior of those who turn from God. Scripture is replete with other graphic examples in places like Ezekiel 16, Psalm 106, and Deuteronomy 28. Even King Solomon, despite his great wisdom and early close relationship with God, even he descended into the horrific practices of his godless pagan culture (1 Kings 11:1-13).

God called Israel from slavery in Egypt to be His special and prized possession. He gave them rules by which they should live and through which they would prosper. But the whole of old Testament history demonstrates how God’s chosen people went very wrong when they turned from God.

 

And of this, too, Scripture assures us: What happened to them WILL happen to any nation and to any individual “who does what is right in their own eyes.”

 

The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome, words we need to heed as well: “Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction . . .  (Romans 15:4). So, let’s make some application of these Scripture texts.

 

The Bible is not a dusty archaic book written only for a people who lived long ago and far away. The Book we hold in our hands is God’s word to God’s people in every age, in every nation, and in every culture.

 

As God called Israel to be His own people, so too God calls those who follow Messiah Jesus today to be His own. BUT – and this is an important point no one should gloss over – God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. St. Paul wrote to the church at Galatia words we also ought to take to heart: “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh, will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8).

 

When we come to Christ we are born again. We are – as St. Paul called it – “a new creation.” And when we became God’s children our old nature was put to death. It was buried with Christ in our baptism so that we could be raised with Him to newness of life. (See Romans 6:3-5) Our burial with Christ means that all the ATTITUDES of our old nature were also put to death.

 

And they need to STAY dead, although they certainly raise their deformed faces almost daily: An unwillingness to forgive others, pride, self-centeredness, immoral sexuality, pornography, divisiveness, slander, rude and crude language, lies and all manner of sins we used to practice as a matter of routine.

 

God commands us to now put on Christ. And what He said about getting rid of the demonic influences of our old nature, He meant; for if we hold on to them, they WILL continue to trouble us in our new life in Christ.

 

Listen. I know it’s hard work being a Christian. It’s hard work doing the right things. It’s hard work saying ‘No’ to our old nature. It’s hard work to consistently read the Scriptures AND study and meditate on what we are reading. It’s hard work to consistently pray for a Christlike heart and a childlike faith. It’s much easier to let the days slip by watching television and playing games.

 

But if we who call ourselves followers of Christ ignore His warning and the lessons of Scripture, we do so to our destruction. God is not mocked. What happened to Israel, and what has happened to EVERY person who has turned a deaf ear to God – it will happen to you and me if we insist on going down that path where everyone does what is right in his own eyes.

Utter and Complete Control

 Last evening, God focused my attention on the final chapters of Job – 38 through 42. In them, He makes it abundantly clear that we, His creatures, really haven’t a clue as to how powerfully omnipotent is our God. 

 

Even after nearly 50 years walking with the Lord, I am still unable to grasp the truth that God is in utter and undiluted control of every affair of life. He orchestrates every circumstance in every moment of my every 24 hours – from the big things that affect my health to the mundane situations such as who I meet in the supermarket. 

 

That was His lesson to me last evening as I read those chapters in Job. Then this morning my routine took me to Matthew’s gospel. Here are the last verses of chapter three: 

 

“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” 

 

When I turned the page to chapter four, I stopped at the first verse:“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."

 

Isn’t that an amazing thing? Just moments earlier, the Father called Jesus His beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased. The next thing we know, Jesus is in the wilderness enduring nearly a month and a half of demonic testing. 

 

The point? As was true with Job, it is futile to try to figure out why we experience fiery trials. We ought only to be like him when he announced, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (13:15) 

 

And as was true with Jesus – with whom the Father was well pleased – those who follow Christ should not be surprise by our own wilderness testing. We ought only to seek to be like Him, knowing that the Father is also well pleased with us as we walk in obedience to the Savior. 

Pray, Persevere, Give

 This is the edited text of my Sunday, September 13 message titles, Pray, Persevere, and Give. You can watch the message on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8bFNfY5FF4

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Last week we looked at the glorious scene in heaven John describes for us in chapter five where the Lamb who was slain was found worthy to open the seals which will unleash a series of judgments on earth. The chapter also describes the uncountable multitudes who cry out worthy is the lamb to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.  We turn our attention today to the last chapters of this book, and the way it describes the future home of those who have rejected God’s Messiah, and the home of those who have received God’s Messiah.

We turn to chapter 21 of the Revelation: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. . . .and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away . . . .”

Now to verse 27: “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

And the first few verses of chapter 22 “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 

I want to reiterate – no one will enter this new Jerusalem, no one will enter eternal life without first having come through the DOOR which is Jesus the Messiah. We spent time last week looking at the unchangeable reality that Jesus Christ is mankind’s only savior and hope for eternal life, so we will not rehash that message today.

 

Instead, I want to speak now specifically to the Christian: There are only one of two ways you and I will enter that city. Death is one avenue. Scripture seems clear to me that when the Christian dies, our souls go immediately to our Father in heaven.

 

As the apostle Paul tells us, Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)

 

And then again in Phil 1:23ff "But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;  yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.” 

 

That is why you and I can rest in the blessed assurance that our loved ones who have died in Christ are right now in His presence, along with the great multitude we spoke of last week, all crying out “to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

 

So, that’s one way Christians will find themselves around God’s throne – through death.

 

But there is also another way – a way that bypasses death. It’s called the Rapture of the Church. I’ve talked about this before, but I revisit this topic of the rapture again – as well as some comments about the coming and nearly supreme ruler of the world known as the anti-Christ – because the Lord could call me home tomorrow – and if He should do that, I want to go to Him knowing I have shared with you the full message of God as best as I understand it.

 

Simply defined, the doctrine of the rapture states that at some time before Jesus returns to earth, He will suddenly snatch all of His followers out of this world. Many believe the purpose of His snatching us away is to shield us from the global devastation that will accompany the final seven years of this earth’s existence – and especially the last 3.5 years of that period. In fact, some of the early church fathers – such as Irenaeus and St. Cyprian in the second and third centuries who believed that was the reason for the rapture.

 

It will happen ‘Suddenly’ – as in the ‘twinkling of an eye.’ St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15: “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

 

The apostle talks about the ‘snatching away’ in his first letter to the church at Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17):  “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

 

It's important to note that the Greek word Paul uses here for ‘caught up’ – or snatched away in other texts – is harpazo. For example, Philip is suddenly harpazo’d from the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:39; The apostle Paul tells us he was harpazo’d to the Third Heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2; Paul also tells us the Bride of Christ will be harpazo’d from the Earth to meet Jesus in the clouds (see 1 Thessalonians 4:17); And we read in Revelation 12:5, Jesus is harpazo’d to His Throne in Heaven.

 

Some argue the word ‘rapture’ doesn’t appear in our Bibles, and they are correct. The word does not appear in our English translations. But the apostles didn’t write in English. They wrote in Greek.

 

From A.D. 405 until the year 1611, St. Jerome’s Latin translation of the Greek New Testament was the official version of the Bible for much of Christendom. That changed only in the early 1600s when King James I commissioned the English translation we know as the King James Bible. When Jerome translated the Greek scriptures into Latin, and he came to a verse such as 1 Thessalonians 4:17:

 

“Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord,” Jerome translated the Greek word harpazo (har pah zo) into the Latin rapiemur (ray pee mah).

 

The verb rapiemur (ray pee mah) is from the root verb rapio (ray pee oh), from which we get the English word such as ‘rapt’ – as in someone pays rapt attention to the television program. It is also from the word rapt that we also get the word ‘rapture.’

 

So, while the word ‘rapture’ does not appear in English translations, the sudden snatching away of Christians is clearly taught in the Greek and Latin New Testaments – which of course predate the 1611 King James Bible by some 1400 years.

 

Whether true Christians will be suddenly snatched away before, during, or after the Great Tribulation might make for a fascinating discussion over coffee – But that is not the crux of my message this afternoon. What IS the crux is this: While the timing of the rapture is unknown, it WILL happen. And I for one am anticipating that trumpet sound.

 

Before I bring today’s message to a close, there is yet one more important detail that I must remind you of, and that has to do with the antichrist. The Scriptures talk of him as a powerful religious and political leader. The New Testament writers also warn of him as one who works miracles, and John warns us that he will have so much economic authority that unless a person has what will probably be a microchip under the skin of his hand or forehead, he or she will not be able to conduct any kind of business transactions – from paying rent, to buying food, to receiving medical care.

 

Revelation chapter 13, the antichrist “causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark.”

 

But now for some good news as I close. When the Lord’s disciples

asked Him in Acts 1: “Is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’  Jesus said, in essence, “Guys, it’s none of your business when the Father has appointed that time.  But what IS your business is to be My witnesses both in Johns Creek, in Georgia, in the United States, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

 

How can you and I do that?  Well, here are some keys: Pray, persevere, and give.

 

First, pray for a child-like heart, a heart that trusts our Father in heaven as we did when we were little children, trusting mom or dad – without even thinking about it – to care of us and to protect us from harm. As I prepared this part of the message, I remembered some of the lyrics from Twila Paris’ song, A Heart that Knows You:

 

“Thought I knew so much, but I've got so much to learn. Got so far to go, so much left to burn. Thought I knew you well, but I struggle in your hands. . . . . [But] a heart that knows you is a heart that can wait, [and] die to the dearest desire. And a heart that knows you is a heart that can still celebrate, following love through the fire.”

 

So, pray. And persevere. Keep doing the right things even when you don’t want to do the right things. Even when you are tired, or depressed, or lonely, or broken. You and I have choices in those circumstances to give in to our emotions, or to push through those negative emotions toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Remember what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith . . . (Then Paul tells him further down in this text): “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”

Listen, Christian – people are watching us. They are listening to us. They are observing how we handle the troubles that fall across our lives. Pay close attention to yourself and to your responses to life’s hard and easy circumstances. In Christ, with Christ, and through Christ, persevere on your journey toward the Celestial City.

Pray. Persevere. And give.

John writes in his third epistle, “Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.”

There are multiple ministries and missionaries faithfully and honorably doing God’s work and which could benefit from the monthly support of Christians such as ourselves. Even if it is to send a couple of dollars each month – we become FELLOW WORKERS with the truth.

Jesus is coming for His Bride – you and me. He is coming to bring us to our heavenly home, either through death or by way of the Rapture.

May the Holy Spirit, please prepare us for our final journey home by teaching us to pray, to persevere, and to give, so that others may hear the wondrous story of the Christ who left His home in glory for the cross of Calvary. Amen.

Another Hard Lesson

 Here is another hard lesson the Lord continues to try to teach me. 

I listened this morning to the hymn, “I surrender all.” Many of you know the song: “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.” 

That song challenges me every time I think about the lyrics. 

“I surrender all” to Jesus means more than a simple surrender of my time, talent, and treasure. I must ALSO every day surrender my expectations, my hopes, and my response to God’s ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to my prayers. I must surrender it all to God’s will. 

Nor must surrendering it all to God be a sullen resignation. That is not what God hopes from us, a sullen resignation. Rather my surrender of all should be a child-like offering of all that I have and for all that I hope. 

All of it. 

That’s what “I surrender all” means. 

Oh, Lord, change my heart – every day – that I might every day surrender all. Amen. 

Is God Unfair?

Some I communicate with on another social media site groused about the killing God commanded Israel to do when they entered the Promised Land. Men, women, children- God commanded that they be slaughtered. He also wanted to know what is the big deal about same sex relationships (and by logical extension, other sexually immoral practices). I responded in part this way:

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It seems ironic to me that so many who find fault with the morality (or, as they would call it, the immorality) of God’s dealing with humanity in the Old Testament see no conflict within themselves when they support – and vote for those who support – the slaughter of nearly 3,000 babies every day in American abortion clinics. (Yes, that occurs every day. I suppose even on Sundays).

So to find fault with God who ordered the destruction of the nations occupying the Promised Land – men, women, and children – while we give hardly a passing thought to what happens every day in our own cities and towns. Seems kind of hypocritical, doesn’t it?

What God said to Job seems most fitting here: “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.” . . . “Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?” (Job 40:1,8)

I will not get into a discussion of the morality of same sex relationships because I consider it unnecessary, given the larger questions – those being: Does God exist? If He exists, is He omnipotent? Is He the Creator of all that is seen and unseen – including you and me and every person ever to be born and die? If He is, then does He have the right to make the rules by which we must live if we hope to please Him? And if so, does He not also have the right to forgive those who sin against Him. And if so, does He not also have the right to judge eternally those who persist in their stiff-necked rebellion against His rules?

And if God is omnipotent, is He not able to ensure His instructions and commandments and promises and warnings be transmitted without error from the days when Moses wrote the first books of the Bible to the time John sat down to write the last book – Revelation – before the close of the first century?

Of course, if the answer to the first question (or even to the second) is ‘no’ then the rest of our ideas of God are simply moot.

It is important that all of us recognize that from the moment Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they and all their progeny are quite literally spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins. (One of the New Testament writes said as much in Ephesians 2).

And since all humanity is spiritually dead, we all need to become spiritually alive. Otherwise, like those who are physically dead and therefore insensate to sights and sounds and touch and so forth –those who are spiritually dead cannot – cannot – hope to ever understand what God does and why He does it.

That is why there is so much ignorance when it comes to reading and teaching the Scriptures. It is ONLY through the grace of God that ANYONE – including God’s children born again through faith in Christ – it is only through God’s grace that anyone can begin to hope to understand what God has done, what He does, and what He promises to do.

Let me pause for a moment – I do not mean to imply that Christians have full knowledge of God or His word. It is undeniably obvious that we do not fully know all that He wants us to know.

But it has always been true that those who choose to walk in the light He has given will receive yet more light. That has been my experience and the experience of a bazillion Christians through the millennia who diligently set themselves to know God through His written word.

Eye Has Not Seen - Sermon Sept 6

 

Eye Has Not Seen

Edited sermon of September 6, 2020

 

You can listen to my YouTube recording for the full message here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M47sBq_M5Hw&t  

 

Many times, as I’ve read Revelation chapter 5 – like this week as I prepared this message – I have tried to imagine what is will be like when I stand before the Lord’s throne on that day He calls me from this body of flesh.

 

Let’s begin with the first few verses of this text:

 

“I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; and one of the elders *said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals. . . .  And they *sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and  purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

It should be no wonder that he tells us that no one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth was found WORTHY to open the seals of judgment – no one worthy except the Crucified and Risen Son of God.

He alone – Not Abraham. Not Buddha. Not Mohammed. Not anyone in all creation was worthy.  Why? Because He alone was slain, and He alone purchased for God with His blood men and women from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. It is Jesus alone who is God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, who sacrificed Himself so you and I could live forever forgiven of our sins.

Tragically, billions on this planet do not believe a word of what I just wrote. Billions – even (believe it or not) in churches across the globe mock the very idea of the exclusivity of Christianity. They like to think in terms of the politically correct version of religion. All religions lead to heaven.

Politically correct, perhaps, but eternally and deadly wrong.

 

Please do not let so-called brilliant men and women of religion or philosophy and cultural elitists dilute this essential truth in your mind. Either Jesus is the one and only door to heaven, or He was a blasphemous liar and demon from hell. There is no other option.

 

In his classic Christian work, CS Lewis said it as well as I have ever heard it: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”  

Jesus, God Almighty, as Paul tells us, “Emptied Himself of all His divine privileges and took upon Himself the form of a slave.” (see Philippians chapter 2). Paul again tells us in another of his epistles, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9   

Yes, Jesus alone is worthy to open the seals of judgment. But now, more to the personal point; What will Jesus find when He opens the seals of judgment as they relate to you and to me?

 

I know my name is written down in glory, where the white-robed angels sing the story, “A sinner has come home.”  I came home to Jesus in 1972 when I went to my knees and asked Him to be my savior and Lord and King and Master. I entered the waters of baptism shortly afterward.

 

Is YOUR name written down in glory? It’s dangerous to your spiritual health to think it’s good enough for God simply that you were baptized. It is insufficient for eternal life to simply be a member of a church. Anyone can get wet. Anyone can sign their names in a book on the altar.

 

What will matter on that day when the Lord Jesus opens the seals of judgment, is that He finds our obedience to the clearly revealed word of God and the historic teaching of the Church. Please note and I will say it again, according to the historic teaching of the Church, and not according to how some churches or pastors today have redefined God’s word to suit the culture.

John continues his description of the heavenly scene in verses nine and ten: “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and  priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

God tells us throughout the books of Moses that He expected of His priests to be holy in life and lifestyle. But do you realize that God has in Christ made you and me to also be a kingdom and priests to our God? The apostle Peter says something similar in his first epistle: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for  God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  (1 Peter 2:9).

 

You and I are called to be a priesthood, a holy people to God. And God makes the same demand – not request – the same demand of us whether we are 20 or 50 or 80 or 100. As Peter once again writes: As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:14-19)

 

We could say a dozen more things about these verses in chapter five of Revelation, but for the sake of time, let’s move quickly forward. In verses 11-14 John writes:

“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Do you realize that right now every one of YOUR loved ones who died in Christ – every one of them – your parents, your husband or wife, your children, your beloved family and friends – they are ALL right now shouting and singing glory to our God and Savior?

I can’t help thinking about my mom and the others in my family and Nancy’s who died holding on to Jesus when they took their last breath. Oh, what a comforting and joyous and calming thought it is to know with  ABSOLUTELY certainty that those whom we have loved and lost to death are– right now – around God’s throne in that great company of myriads and myriads of worshippers. All of them singing: “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

But now again, let’s make application of this text to our own and very personal relationship with God through Jesus the Messiah. Many of you will remember this church hymn:

“All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

 

Have you, and do you still surrender all to Jesus? I ask myself that question a lot. When I sing that hymn – I Surrender All – the Holy Spirit always whispers into my heart, “Richard, is what you are singing true for you? Have you surrendered to me your sins? You time, your talents, your health, your wealth, your children, your circumstances?

Let me close this message with these final thoughts. As I prepared this message I thought of a song written by Bart Millard of the gospel group, Mercy Me. It’s titled, “I Can Only Imagine.” Here are only some of the lyrics:

I can only imagine/ what it will be like / when I walk by your side. I can only imagine/ what my eyes would see / when your face is before me. I can only imagine. . . . Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine. I can only imagine. I can only imagine.

The Holy Spirit through St. John gave us only a glimpse of what our eternal home is like. But how can you or I begin to imagine what our loved ones on the other side are already experiencing? It must be analogous to a child in the womb who can hear only muffled sounds and see only darkness – but has no clue what it will be like to be born into the world that we all now experience with all its sights and sounds and colors and fragrances and tactile sensations.

Heaven will be like that, but only more so when we are ‘birthed’ from this womb we call ‘life’ and enter that indescribable place the Bible calls heaven.

 

Please, here my last comment and then I close: Keep keeping on with Jesus. Grow deeper in love with Him through prayer, meditating on His word, and humbly obeying His commandments. Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, all the things that God has prepared for us after we leave our bodies in death and enter into His glorious presence.

 

Amen.