Gifts for the Master

Have you ever been invited to a celebration – whether a birthday, a graduation, a housewarming, or whatever, and discovered when you arrived that you were not dressed appropriately. Or when you arrived you discovered you were the only one who’d not brought a gift? Maybe you have. Maybe you haven’t.

 

But I’d like us all to think about our invitation to the celebration every Christian will enjoy – the marriage supper of the Lamb spoken of in Matthew 22 and Revelation 19.

 

Yes, every Christian will be dressed appropriately for the occasion, dressed in robes of righteousness. Listen to Revelation 19:7-8 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

 

But what about your gift? Do you want to show up empty-handed?

 

Several weeks ago, I began a short series about the fears many Christians live with at various times in their lives and that rob their joy in the Lord. The first message in this series focused on the impossibility of failing in our walk with Christ if we WANT a successful walk with Him. He who created worlds and galaxies by simply speaking is the same One who holds us in His arms and guides us in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. My second message focused on the impossibility for true Christians to fail to grow in intimacy with the Savior if they don’t want to fail. After all, we are each as intimate with Jesus as we want to be. Think about that a moment. Jesus will never hold US at arm’s length. He always seeks to draw us into His embrace and hold us to Himself as a shepherd cradles a hurting lamb. Jesus will never hold us at arm’s length, but WE so often hold Him off.

 

And so I spoke last time about how much He loves us and wants to be intimate with us – and what we need to do to draw closer to His embrace. And, if you remember, the key to growing in intimacy with the Savior is wrapped up in the word – and practice – of obedience.

 

Today, I continue this series to address another area of our walk with Christ in which it is impossible to fail – if we don’t want to fail. Specifically, it is impossible for the Christian who WANTS to be fruitful for Christ to fail to be fruitful for Him. It is impossible for the true Christian to arrive at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb emptyhanded. Why? Because Almighty God will not permit such a thing to happen to the one who WANTS to arrive with gifts for the Savior.

 

And what kinds of gifts are we talking about? Having won a thousand souls to the Lord in personal evangelism? Having taught hundreds of children about Jesus in Sunday School classes? Having opened your own city mission to feed and house the homeless?

 

Certainly, who wouldn’t want to do something as big and grand and impressive as those things? But those are NOT the things every Christian can do because God has not CALLED every Christian to do such grand and ambitious works for His kingdom.

 

Listen to what He tells us through the Moses: “What does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes.”  (Deuteronomy 10:12-13a)

 

Listen also to the prophet Micah: “With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? . . . He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8)

 

Surely, those who CAN do big things for Christ ought to do big things for Christ. But what of the bulk of Christendom – people like you and me whose place in the kingdom does not lend itself to win thousands to the Lord or reach hundreds of children, or build orphanages, or feed multitudes?

 

Listen to only two of scores of examples of so-called ‘little people’ who did what they could for Christ and received His praise. In the first example, Luke tells us Jesus was speaking in the Temple area to His disciples and the wealthy rulers and theologians. Then something caught His eye. “And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4 

 

Mark records the second example. A woman entered uninvited to a dinner party. She approached the Lord as He reclined at the table and she poured an expensive ointment on His head. Mark tells it this way:

 

“But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” (Mark 14:4-9)

 

Did you catch what the Lord said about both women? In the first, the Lord praised the woman for doing what she could – even more than she could afford. In the second example, the Lord said of her effort? “She has done what she could.”

 

Do we think Jesus doesn’t know when you do all that you can do for Him. Do you think He doesn’t know when you sacrifice your time, your talents, your resources for His kingdom? So – what is it that YOU can do?

 

And if you don’t know what you can do – then ask Him in prayer – consistent, intentional, concerted prayer. Not just once or twice or a dozen times – but again and again until He shows you. And He WILL show you because it is His pleasure that you give to Him what you can.

 

I think now of what God told Jeremiah 33:3 – ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

 

So, what can you do – what do you WANT to do for your Lover? The same questions apply to me as well. What do we want we give to the One who loves us not only ‘to the moon and back’ – but who loves us to the Cross and back? What will we sacrifice to the One who loves – who loves us like a rock, who loves us like the Rock of Ages?

 

Many of us know the hymn by Isaac Watts, who died in the 18^th century:

 

When I survey the wondrous cross/On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss/And pour contempt on all my pride.

 

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast/Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most/I sacrifice them to His blood.

 

See from His head, His hands, His feet/Sorrow and love flow mingled down!/Did e’er such love and sorrow meet/Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

 

Were the whole realm of nature mine/That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine/Demands my soul, my life, my all.

 

Small or large, what can you and I give to the Lord? What can we do for Him? Well, the foundation of all the gifts we can bring to Him must begin with the foundation of – in the words of Micah: “To do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly with your God.” ANY gift that does not spring from that root – justice, kindness, and humility is unacceptable to God.

 

Listen to what He tells us through Amos (5:21-24): “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

 

In other words – first things first: Obey His commandments.That must be the root of all our gifts. The apostle Peter helps us with this issue of obedience resulting in fruitfulness for Christ in his second letter:

 “[G]iving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8), NKJV)

 

Rooted in our humility before Christ, this text alone (and there are many others) is our RECIPE for fruitfulness for Christ. Obedience to His instructions here and throughout Holy Scripture guarantees that we not arrive at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb emptyhanded.

 

Let’s look a bit more closely at this text from the apostle’s pen: If we truly have a faith that saves, then we will add to that faith ‘virtue’, which means moral goodness in what we do in public AND in private. To virtue we add ‘knowledge’ – an ever-increasing familiarity with God – His words, His commandments, and so forth.

 

To virtue and knowledge, we add self-control, mastering our passions and desires especially when those passions and desires are at variance with God's revealed word and will. Self-control also applies to mastery of our tongue.

 

To these things we also add perseverance – a patient endurance in our walk with Christ, not being swayed away from our hope in Him who provides us hope. And to these we add godliness in our lifestyles. To godliness, we add kindness – even to those we do not particularly like. And to kindness, we add love for one another.

 

Note again what Peter says next: “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, when we do these things, growing in Christian maturity, God PROMISES we will be fruitful.

 

That is precisely why it is NOT POSSIBLE for anyone, regardless of age, health, wealth, poverty, religious background – or any other factor – it is impossible for a Christian who WANTS to be fruitful for Christ to not be fruitful if he or she simply follows the recipes God gives us – doing justice, loving kindness, walking humbly before our God, and maturing in our relationship with our savior according to His various recipes such as this here in Peter’s letter.

 

And please here this. This is important: We ought to seek to be fruitful because we love Him and want to give back to our Lover what He has abundantly given to us. We ought to seek to be fruitful because we do not want to show up at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb empty-handed. And we ought to seek to be fruitful because there is a judgment for those who are willfully, selfishly, lazily unfruitful.

 

Many of you remember the parable at the end of Matthew 25. All the nations will at the judgment be separated into two groups – sheep on His right hand and goats on His left. Now listen to this text from that chapter:

 

Matthew 25:34ff “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

 

But that’s not the end of the story, is it? Now to verse 41: “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 

I don’t know how Christians get the idea that doing ‘good works’ is not as important to our salvation as is ‘faith.’ That idea is totally unsupportable by Scripture. Indeed, I will say that idea stands in direct opposition to what Scripture teaches us about works – which are the requisite evidence of saving faith. Feeding the poor. Clothing the naked. Protecting the unborn. Visiting the sick and lonely.

 

Look for a moment at James 2:14-20 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

 

Now listen to Paul as he wrote to the Church through Titus (3:8,14), “This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men . . . . “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.”

 

As I said a few moments ago, and I close by repeating myself for emphasis: We ought to seek to be fruitful because we love Jesus and want to give back to our Lover what He has abundantly given to us. We ought to seek to be fruitful because we do not want to show up at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb empty-handed. Just think for a moment of how embarrassing it will be to see even those we knew in life presenting to the Savior the souls of men and women and children they won for Christ, the ones they encouraged in Christ, the ones they fed and clothed and nurtured for Christ – and meanwhile, we stand emptyhanded.

 

And we ought to seek to be fruitful because there is a judgment for those who are willfully and selfishly and lazily unfruitful.

 

What are you doing with the rest of your life? What do you WANT to do for your Lord for the rest of your life? How often will you seek His answer until He tells you want He is asking of you?

 

 

The Jesus Revolution

Nancy and I got saved -- meaning, we confessed our sins to God, repented of those sins, and asked Jesus to live within us from that moment on -- we got saved during what Time Magazine dubbed, "The Jesus Revolution."

I committed my life to Christ on my knees in 1972. It happened for Nancy a year later.

We just finished watching the DVD of the same title -- 'The Jesus Revolution.'

The movie brings back so many memories -- especially for me because I was -- what some might say a 'hippie' — back in those days. I was lost, and empty inside -- but the hippie lifestyle helped me push that all aside -- until I could no longer make believe I was okay.

If you've not seen the movie, I recommend it. Whether you're in your 70s (like Nancy and I) or in your teens -- the story is well worth telling and retelling.

And the best news of all that is this: Jesus still changes the lives of anyone who really want His change. Even in 2025.

Have you given your life to Jesus yet? If not -- why not?

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Yom Kippur and Jesus

 

Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement – is the highest of the holy days in Jewish faith. And because I’d been thinking about my life-trajectory, in 1971 I woke up on Yom Kippur, determined to be a better Jew. I promised myself that from that day forward I’d obey the Ten Commandments and do whatever I needed to do to please God.

 

But when my girlfriend unexpectedly knocked on my apartment door around noon – my promises evaporated.

 

One year later, on Yom Kippur 1972, I sat alone in my navy barracks room, thinking back to my failure of one year earlier. I pulled my journal from my locker and wrote a heart-felt plea: “Oh, God – forgive me for my past sins, and look with tolerance on my future ones.”

 

I wrote as I did because I knew I was trapped in sin. I knew no matter how hard I tried and how many promises I could make – I could not live up to God's commandments. I didn’t know it at the time, but heart was at a place it needed to be for God to break through and reveal to my heart the answer to my prayer for forgiveness.

 

His answer was – is – Jesus.

 

I think back to that day in 1972 quite often. And please do not misunderstand me – I am nowhere near the living out of holiness that I know I must live. I sin routinely. I suppose it is fair to say I remain trapped in sin because I still have a sin nature.

 

But today I DO have full access to God's forgiveness. Today I DO have access to the Holy Spirit who always empowers me to say ‘No’ to some temptation that wants me to say, ‘Yes.”  And while God does not, nor will He ever, look with tolerance on my sins – He always provides me the assurance that when I strive to walk the narrow way of His choosing, when I confess my sins – even if I must do so a dozen times a day for the same sin – God promises to wipe them from my record and from His memory.

 

But, enough about me.  I hope this post speaks to you, for until we grieve over our sin nature, we won’t know how desperately we need Jesus. Until we recognize we’re trapped in sin, we won’t know how desperately we need Jesus. Until we weep and mourn because we keep doing the same thing again and again and again – hating every time we do it, then we won’t know how desperately we need Jesus.

Please. Please think about what I am saying here. We fool ourselves to think that all we need to do to please God is walk down the church aisle and make a ‘commitment’ to Christ.  It’s wholly insufficient to walk down such an aisle, be baptized, and attend church each Sunday, without a true and daily commitment of life and lifestyle to Christ. And that will only happen when God wakes us up to realize we really do need Jesus to save us from ourselves.

 

And that would be a good prayer, wouldn’t it? To ask God to reveal to you how desperately – desperately – you need Jesus.

Mercy -- and Purgatory?

 

I can’t read the story without shaking my head in dismay. In short order David trampled on at least three of the Ten Commandments. He coveted another man’s wife, committed adultery with her, and murdered her husband to cover up his sin. You can read the story in 2 Samuel 11.

But the most amazing thing about that whole sordid and murderous affair occurs in the next chapter. When God sent Nathan the prophet to denounce David for what he’d done, David repented, and Nathan told him: “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.” (2 Samuel 12:13)

Coveting. Adultery. Murder. Crimes for which there was no acceptable sacrifice under Mosaic Law – yet the merciful God totally, thoroughly, completely forgave the penitent sinner. David would later write the 32nd psalm as a testament to God's unfathomable mercy:

"How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity . . . I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:1-2a, 5)

Yes, during the rest of David’s earthly life he suffered what might be called God's ‘temporal’ or ‘earthly’ punishment for his sins. And God tells him the reason for the impending punishment: “Because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.” (2 Samuel 12:14

Indeed, the apostle Paul picks up this same idea in his letter to the Christians at Rome: “You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, just as it is written.” (Romans 2:21-24)

And so, because David’s sin gave the Lord’s enemies reasons to mock God, the child born from his adulterous union with Bathsheba died, and God later raised up terrible troubles and divisions within his own family.

But the critical message here for you and me goes back to what God told David through the prophet Nathan: “God has taken away your sin.” And who has the temerity, the impudence to think David still had to pay for his sins after death?

And now the application:

Take a moment to think of the absolute worst sin you have ever committed in your life. Take some moments to go back in your memory to the worst sin you’ve ever committed.

Did you repent before God for what you’d done? Do you even to this day feel grief and deep regret over it? Then listen to what God says to you through His apostle: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

The Greek word John used in this text for ‘forgiveness’ means God treats the confessed sin AS IF IT HAD NEVER BEEN COMMITTED. The Greek word used for ‘cleanse’ means to be purified and SET FREE from the guilt of sin.

Yes, we – as David did – might have to pay a penalty IN THIS LIFE for our sin, but who dares to call God a liar when He tells us He treats our confessed sins on the other side of the grave as if we’d never committed them? Why does anyone doubt God's inviolable promise to set the penitent forever free from the punishment in the next life for the guilt of his or her sin?

Think again of the worst of your sin. Your absolute worst.

If you repented to God for that sin, then you have no Biblically-sound reason to fear any punishment or cleansing of that sin in that place some call ‘Purgatory’ after you die.

Yes, God's mercy and forgiveness is unfathomable. But His mercy and forgiveness is absolutely reliable.

Fight the Good Fight

My message today revolves around the apostle Paul’s final letter to his protégé, Timothy. (2 Timothy 4:5-8) “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Many years ago, Nancy and I were good friends with Dr. Daniel Taub and his wife. Dan had been raised as an agnostic, educated in prestigious schools, and trained as a clinical psychologist. As such, he could have easily rationalized the growing emptiness that gnawed at his heart. The idea that sin could have been the root of his emptiness was as foreign to his humanistic world view as east is from the west.

But in 1974, when the Holy Spirit revealed to him the truth about sin, forgiveness and salvation, Dan knew he had to make a choice: Obey God’s voice through the Scriptures or hide behind human philosophies.

He chose God.

Our friendship continued through the next 20 years or so, until he died in the fall of 1996. He’d been diagnosed with an aggressive and metastatic colon cancer. As soon as I walked into his hospital room, I knew he was dying. I remember choking back tears as I moved closer to his bed and placed my hand on the siderail. I asked how was feeling, and he whispered he was tired.

After a short conversation, I asked him, “Dan, how does it feel to know you are dying?”

I’d already learned by then that a hospital bed is where everything we hold dear washes out: money, popularity, passions, careers – like charred timbers after a house fire, a death-bed places so many things in clear perspective. And so, my question was deeply personal for me. I needed to know the thoughts of this man of God. Perhaps his answer might help me cope during that future time when I lie in some hospital bed, staring into eternity.

 

He smiled as he looked at me, and said something I will never forget. He raised his hand to the bedrail and touched mine. “From life . . .  to life,” he said. “I leave this one to enter the next with Jesus. I fought the good fight. I finished my course. I kept the faith.”

 

I share that little vignette to make the following points about the Christian life and the Christian death. And I will start by saying this: The one who thinks that living a Christian life is not a fight is probably not living the TRUE Christian life. They might be checking off all the right boxes – attending church services, receiving Holy Communion, giving tithes, doing good works – but listen: ANYONE can do such things. Judas did such things. And those to whom the Lord rebuked at the end of that thirteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel also checked off the right boxes in life – but to no good avail.

 

Many of you will remember that text: (Luke 13:24-27) “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’

 

The Christian life is a battle – a battle mostly with ourselves, with our sin nature, with our penchant to take shortcuts with regard to walking and talking a holy lifestyle, and rationalize away what a life fully committed to Christ looks like.

 

We like to sing hymns such as, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all,”  and, “All to Jesus, I surrender, all to Him I freely give,” – but when Sunday turns into Monday, and Tuesday, and so on – and when life ‘happens’ and we face hard decisions to walk the straight and narrow path or to take an easier road – well, I find in my own life that sometimes the easier road seems far more attractive.

 

Christian, please! Do not underestimate the subtlety and the fierce deceptiveness of Satan and his demons. The Holy Spirit often warns the Christian to be alert to the battle against our desire and our need for a pure walk with Christ. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood,” the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Ephesus, “[it is] against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

 

The battle for our souls never lets up; And so, Paul continued with this critical counsel: “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:12-17)

 

When we’re young it’s easier (although certainly not easy) – it’s easier to ‘keep the faith’ as Paul wrote to Timothy. It’s easier to keep marching on for Jesus. We have the energy and the health to handle setbacks and disappointments. But as we age, keeping that faith often becomes more difficult. We tire easily. Many struggle with chronic illnesses, or financial difficulties, or any number of other stressors. And it’s not as easy to bounce back from setbacks and disappointment as we could in our earlier years.

 

Which is precisely why we must – in our old age – remember the counsel given us in our early days: Run to Jesus. Run to His word. Continue to hide it in our hearts, even if it is only a verse or two from time to time. Keep fighting that good fight and do not grow WEARY with it.

 

Speaking of fighting that good fight and not growing weary even in our old age, I am reminded of a story in the intertestamental book of 2 Maccabees. The book is not found in most modern Protestant versions of the Bible, but is found in Catholic, Orthodox and (I believe) some Anglican versions. In fact, the Jewish holiday of Channukah, or the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple spoken of in the tenth chapter of John’s gospel – that Feast is rooted in the history of Jewish persecution as described in the second book of Maccabees.

 

Here is a vignette from chapter six of that book. It is about an old man by the name of Eleazar. The Greek king Antiochus made it a capital crime to be Jewish. Under pain of extreme torture and death, he forced them to turn from their faith and adopt Greek culture. And it is here that we come to the story of fighting the good fight of faith or not growing weary in well-doing. I begin with 2 Maccabees 6:18:

Eleazar, one of the scribes in high position, a man now advanced in age and of noble presence, was being forced to open his mouth to eat swine’s flesh. But he, welcoming death with honor rather than life with pollution, went up to the torture rack of his own accord, spitting out the flesh . . . Those who were in charge of that unlawful sacrifice took the man aside because of their long acquaintance with him, and privately urged him to bring meat of his own providing. . . and to pretend that he was eating the flesh of the sacrificial meal that had been commanded by the king, ²² so that by doing this he might be saved from death, and be treated kindly on account of his old friendship with them.”

 

[But Eleazar said]: ‘Such pretense is not worthy of our time of life,’ he said, ‘for many of the young might suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year had gone over to an alien religion, and through my pretense, for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they would be led astray because of me, while I defile and disgrace my old age. Even if for the present I would avoid the punishment of mortals, yet whether I live or die I will not escape the hands of the Almighty. Therefore, by bravely giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and nobly for the revered and holy laws.’

 

I repeat for emphasis what Eleazar said: ‘Many of the young might suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year had gone over to an alien religion, and through my pretense . . . would be led astray because of me, while I defile and disgrace my old age . . . Therefore. . . I will show myself worthy of my old age and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and nobly for the revered and holy laws.’

And now, application time. For the sake of our souls, for the sake of the souls of our family and our friends, for the sake of all who know us: How do we -- until our last breath – how do we fight the good fight, finish the course, keep the faith and not grow weary of well doing?

 

Well, let me offer some suggestions which are rooted in God's holy word – but before I do, please know that I am not speaking now from consistent personal experience. I fail often enough to follow the counsel I am about to share with you from God's word. Nevertheless, my suggestions are rooted in God's inerrant and infallible Word, and so while I also have plenty of room for growth, His truth is still Truth. Regardless of my failures and yours to consistently and perfectly follow that truth does not change the truth that His word will always remain THE lamp to our feet and the LIGHT to our path.

 

My first suggestion – and these are not in any particular order – Be alert to the Satanic lie that we can fight the battle of faith in our own strength. Such an idea is a fail-proof recipe for disaster. “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain” (Psalm 127:1-2). And again: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” (Psalm 118:8-9) And once more: (Proverbs 21:31) “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.”

 

Martin Luther wrote about it in this way: A mighty Fortress is our God/A Bulwark never failing/Our Helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing/For still our ancient foe/Doth seek to work us woe/His craft and power are great/And armed with cruel and hate/On earth is not his equal.

 

Did we in our own strength confide/Our striving would be losing/We're not the right Man on our side/The Man of God's own choosing/Dost ask who that may be?/Christ Jesus, it is He/Lord Sabaoth His Name/From age to age, the same/And He must win the battle

How do we make sure that we’re not fighting the good fight in our own strength? Say it out loud to yourself and to God that you are helpless and hopeless in this battle. Say it out loud to yourself and to God that you desperately need His protection, guidance, mercy, and grace to fight the good fight of faith and not grow weary in well-doing. Willfully and purposefully reject the blasphemous Humanistic attitude that boasts, “I did it My Way.”

 

Confess out loud to yourself and to God that the battle is His. Learn from His word that we war against supernatural spiritual powers of darkness. Learn from the Holy Spirit what it means to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ. Learn and practice what it means to reject every thought, every idea, every philosophy that contradicts what God has clearly revealed to us in Scripture about sin, righteousness and judgment. And it matters not a speck, not whit if we are 20 years old or 90. Sin is still sin.

 

Second, seek godly counselors to help clarify questions about the Bible, for, as the Holy Spirit tells us in the Proverbs (Proverbs 24:6) “For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.” Be alert to the temptations to your walk with Christ in order to ‘fit in’ with our godless and often anti-Christ culture. Instead, purposely and willfully stand up – stand up for Jesus. Intentionally serve God with the integrity and life of holiness worthy of our name as servants of Christ.  

 

I need to bring this to a close, and I do so with these final words of exhortation: In June of 1940, virtually all of Europe had fallen to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. And now England was in the cross hairs.  Many in the British Parliament were ready to sue for terms of peace. Then Churchill took the podium and spoke words that literally changed the course of the war:

“Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

Churchill’s rousing words of encouragement changed the course of the Second World War, and so, let’s bring his words to our own battle. Yes, the battles are long, and arduous, and painful.  

 

But – But, with God’s help we shall not flag or fail. With His help we shall go on to the end.  Yes, with God’s help we will not grow weary in well doing. God has promised with an unfailing and unfaltering promise; we shall reap if we do not give up. And in keeping the faith, in standing for Jesus, the course of our individual lives, and the lives of our families, and those who know us can also be altered for God!

 

And do not forget how the apostle concluded his commission to Timothy in that passage I read at the beginning of this message. Do not forget those words because those words apply to every Chistian in this sanctuary:

 

“In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

 

Amen.

 

Memorial Day and the Cross

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the day America sets aside to honor the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in our country’s armed forces. Across the country, people will visit cemeteries to honor our deceased and place flowers or American flags on their graves.

 

Those who died did so to secure freedoms for Americans, freedoms many of us take for granted. The freedoms bought for us by their blood include the freedom of speech, freedom to own and legally use firearms, the freedom of religion, and the freedom to peacefully assemble. The Bill of Rights lists other freedoms that we will not take the time now to enumerate – but the point needs to be reiterated: Those men and women fought and died to protect the freedoms we enjoy.

 

As I reflected on this upcoming national holiday, I realized Memorial Day is also a very good day to remember a casualty of another war – a war which was the worst ever fought in history since the beginning of creation. And the loss of this particular life resulted in a cost incomparable to the cost of any conflict since the Garden of Eden.

 

I’m speaking of the war waged in heaven and on earth for the eternal souls of men and women. You probably have guessed that I am speaking of the battle that took the life of God's only begotten Son. I’m speaking of the battle in which Jesus sacrificed His life to secure for us freedoms which are far more vital than even of those critically important freedoms gained for us by our military.

 

Americans who know our history recognize the names of places where Americans died for our freedom, places like Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, the WW1 Battle of Marne, the WW2 battles of Iwo Jima, and Normandy.

 

But the battle that cost the life of God's Son occurred in what was then often referred to as a backwater town of Jerusalem. However, with Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection – and let us never forget that last point because without that resurrection, the death of Christ would mean absolutely nothing for our freedoms – with Christ’s death and resurrection, He alone won for all humanity freedoms which only HE could secure.

And so, the question which we ought to ask on this day before Memorial Day – and the question I hope to adequately answer – is this: What FREEDOMS did Jesus’ death bring to us? For the sake of time, I will talk briefly of only four. You can probably think of others yourself.

 

First, Christ’s death for us procured for us freedom from the devil’s lie that we have to earn our salvation, that we have to somehow and in some way warrant God's grace, the lie that our salvation depends in large part or in small part on something WE have to do.

 

Listen to what Jesus said about the so-called ‘righteousness of works’ and the Biblical truth of the righteousness of humble faith: Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

Listen: If righteousness was obtainable by keeping the Law, Jesus would never have had to die. Here is St Paul speaking infallibly in Gal 2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

And again, Paul to the Christians at Colossae: (Colossians 2:16,17,20-23) Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. . . . If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch . . . in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

Not long after Jesus ascended to the Father, a heresy circulated among the believing Jewish priests and Pharisees who taught that obedience of Gentiles to the Law of Moses was a requisite for salvation. At the heart of this issue was circumcision. Because of the spiritual damage this heresy was causing, the apostles came together at what is known as the first Jerusalem council. It was at that counsel that the apostles deemed that circumcision was NOT a requirement for salvation for Jews or Gentiles. Peter closed the discussion with these words:  (Acts 15:11): “We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as [the Gentiles] also are.”

 

The heretical idea that our salvation is based on something WE have to do is a Satanic lie that remains with us to this very day, it is a lie designed by the devil to place and keep even Christians in bondage.

 

So, the first freedom Christ’s blood bought us is freedom from the idea that we can do anything to secure our own salvation. And that freedom brings us to what I am labeling the second freedom for the Christian (and only for the Christian): The freedom from God's wrath for our sins.

 

The Lord Jesus said to the very religious Nicodemus: (John 3:18) “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

 

Several verses later, the Lord continues: (John 3:36) “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

 

Paul adds in his letter to the Christians at Rome: (Romans 5:8-10)  ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 

 

And in his letter to the church as Ephesus: (Ephesians 2:1-3) “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, ² in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. ³ Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

 

Christian – please hear this: God will never make you suffer after death for your sins. Never. The apostle Paul didn’t believe in a place called Purgatory. I have shared with you in the past portions of his other letters that ought to put that terrible idea of purgatory to rest – such as Philippians 1:21 and 2 Corinthians 5:6-9.

 

And neither did St John believe in punishment for the Christian after death. Here is what he wrote in his first epistle: (1 John 4:18) “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”

 

I know I am quoting a lot of Scripture, and I will be quoting even more as I continue this message. And if you have been with me for more than a few months, you know I often quote from God's word. I do so because you should not at all be swayed by my opinions – unless my opinions are rooted and grounded in God's infallible word.

 

And second, I so often quote scriptures in my sermons and studies because ‘it is only GOD’S truth that can set us free from bondage. As the Lord Jesus said: (John 8:31-32): “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;  and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  

 

So, the freedoms Jesus’ blood bought for us on Calvary’s hill included the freedom from the lie of a works-based salvation, and freedom for the Christian from the fear of God's wrath for our sins. The third freedom Jesus secured for us, and related to the first two, is this: The Christian – and only the Christian – now is free from the fear of death.

 

Listen to Hebrews 2:14-15: “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

 

Death is an unknown – but it is not a completely indecipherable unknown. God in His graciousness has given us information in Scriptures that should allay the Christian’s fear of death.

 

For one thing, as we have already seen, death for the Christian is not a time of judgment, But as for what heaven is like, God has given us sufficient glimpses into our future in heaven in verses such as these:

 

Revelation 21:3-4 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, 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.”

 

Revelation 22:3 “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. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

 

What will heaven be like? I don’t know. But I like to imagine colors to be so much more incredibly vibrant than we see them now with human eyes. Greens greener. Reds redder. Blues bluer. The colors of the rainbow surrounding us in the nature of heaven all shimmering, sparkling, yet blending while each remains clearly distinct.

 

And heaven’s sounds? The psalmist wrote: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150), and maybe that also works in heaven. EVERYTHING that breathes – animals, insects, mammals – everything that breathes, and each mingling their breath and voice into an incredible soul-stirring celestial symphony of praise to God.

 

I like to also imagine, as Isaiah tells us (55:12), “The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands” – The whole of heaven’s landscape raising voice, and even the wind rustling through trees and flowers and across our ears will whisper a melody of worship in which all of creation joins to raise to its Creator.

 

And for a moment, in my fun speculations, I wondered if after a millennium of such resonating choruses and beauty – would I get bored with it all? I wondered that because I know how quickly I get bored with things in life that once startled me. But then I thought of Jeremiah’s words in Lamentations: “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:22-23a). I thought, God's infinite combinations of sounds and colors and sights are – well, they’re infinite.

 

So, how could I get bored when His glories and wonders are new every morning? A local poet, Betty Smith, thought of it this way: “There will be joy and laughter – no tears or woes, and we will all be dressed in the finest of robes, pure white, without spot or blemish, I’m told. And wine will be served in goblets of gold, the food will be sumptuous, fit for a king; the music will be heavenly – we’ll hear angels sing. There will be plenty of time to visit and talk, and after dinner, You and Jesus can walk.”

 

It is true that no one knows what heaven is actually like. But I think we can rest on what we DO know for certain, because God's word tells us what is certain: “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

 

I need to start bringing this message to a close with the fourth freedom bought and brought to us by the precious blood of our Savior Jesus: Christians, and only Christians, have the freedom to call God, our Father.

 

Listen again to the apostle John: (1:10-13) “He [Christ] was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

 

Have you ‘received’ Jesus? Have you asked Him to cleanse your sins, to control your life, to make you His own, and to deepen your life in holiness? If so, then you ARE a child of God and He has given you the right to call Him your Father.

 

But – and this is very important – if you have never personally asked His cleansing and control over your life and lifestyle, and if you do not humbly confess to Him your sins and repent, then you might be religious, and you might be a good person, and you might participate in all the religious rituals of your church, including baptism – but you might not actually be a child of God and therefore do not have the right to call Him your Father.

 

If what I just said causes some sense of concern in your heart – then I am glad because this issue of salvation is far too important to dilute or soft-peddle God's truth. No one will want to say to the Lord Jesus at the Judgment: ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’ (Luke 13:26) and then hear Him say in response: ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; Depart from Me, all you evil doers.’ (Luke 13:27).

 

In other words, it won’t matter at the Judgment if we received Holy Communion every day and listened attentively to great sermons and homilies. What will matter is this: Were we born again through obedient faith in Jesus as our personal sacrifice, our personal atonement for our sins? And, did our lifestyles reflect an ongoing, day by day desire to live according to His commandments? Did we confess our sins and repent each time the Holy Spirit told us we’d done wrong?

 

Memorial Day is set aside in our nation as a day to remember with thanksgiving the military men and women who died to secure the freedoms we enjoy in this country. But Memorial Day is also a good day to remember the One who died in a battle on Calvary’s mountain – who died a death to secure our freedoms often taken for granted – even by those of us in the pews: Freedom from Satan’s lie that we have to do something to earn our salvation; Freedom from God's eternal wrath for our sins; Freedom from the fear of death; and freedom to be able to call God our very own Father.

 

No wonder the apostle Paul exclaimed: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)