“Will You Miss What You Will Lose”

            Jeremiah 28:5–9 ⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, ⁶and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles.

            Sometimes we don’t appreciate those things we have until it is too late and those things are gone.  It happens with people as well too, we don’t realize how much we had depended on, or cared for a person until that person is gone.  For those held so long in the Babylonian Captivity they did not realize how much they cared for their land that God had helped them get until it was taken away from them.  Not just their land but also their great Temple in Jerusalem.  And, not just the temple but all of the vessels and paraments of worship that had been in the temple too were vandalized or stolen.

            When all of those who lived in Jerusalem were forced to leave their beloved land and city they also realized their life style, livelihood, and their means to worship God in His Temple were taken away too.  Life would not be the same, and it was all because their forefathers put their faith in idols, turned their back to God, and didn’t listen to the warnings God had tried to send them through the prophets.

            The saddest part of it all was not only did their leader not listen, who most could probably blame, but neither did the populace.  It’s easier to go with the flow, who wants to make waves any way; one could get hurt doing that.  Though we think in these terms before disaster strikes, once the disaster has taken its toll we wonder why someone else didn’t do something to prevent the disaster.  We see the disaster coming.  We’ve been warned that it will happen if things keep on as status quo.  Yet we sit and think someone else should do something about it never thinking we too are responsible for our loss.  We too lose out because we turn our back on God and refuse to listen to His warnings.

            Jeremiah 28:5–9 ⁷Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. ⁸The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. ⁹As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

            There were prophets that were sent by God to warn those who continued to worship idols, and to those who turned their back on God.  Some were run off, some were killed, and almost always none of the prophets were listened to even though they brought the word of Yahweh.  War is coming, our way of life is fading, we will lose all that we hold dear, we’ve been warned, it happened and all seemed lost, especially a way of life.  This is our world… it has happened before it will happen again…

            Let’s ask a question, you are saved because you believe and you believe because of the works of the Holy Spirit, and you have eternal life because Christ died for our sins, so do we feel comfortable turning away?  We don’t miss what we have until we lose it, maybe that’s why we don’t miss Jesus because we did not lose Him.  Yes Christ died on the cross, and was buried in a tomb, but we know He was raised from the dead and lives still with our Father in heaven.  What would you wish for if you found yourself in a captivity that took away all you held dear?  Certainly the generations were told of the Temple and all of the vessels and paraments of worship and how grand their life used to be…

            They turned their back of God, and though they lost everything, the one thing they did not lose was the love of a God who continues to call them His people.  He calls all of us His people and His children adopted and purchased at a great price from sin, the evil one, and the demands of the law. 

            Romans 5:6-10 ⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

            Yes, enemies of Christ, those who turn their back on Christ, those who criticize without really knowing Christ, yet we who still hold on to a little piece of belief that Christ is our savior are saved.  Isn’t it strange or is it something so great that we can get joy from knowing; we have a God who loves us and spends His existence trying to show us by not offering us salvation wrapped in a package for us to open, rather our salvation is wrapped in His love that He gives to us through His grace and mercy.

            You can’t wrap love up in a package to be opened later, and you can’t take love, though some might try.  Love especially from God is given, the only thing you can do is refuse it.  Why would anyone refuse love from a God who actually wants us around forever, and made it happen for all who will not refuse it?  Isn’t it great we get to worship a God who loves us, who saves us, and who wants us always?  Amen.

“Faith in the Triune God, the Holy Trinity”

            Matthew 28:16–20 ¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

            Notice the holy word of God says His eleven disciples and not eleven apostles.  True Jesus is speaking to His eleven apostles but He addresses them as disciples. Jesus addresses them as disciples because they are still studying and learning every word that our Christ has said to them and every word they have written down for the book of Torah.  Torah is the Old Testament of which they have all been brought up on.  Jesus’ word that the apostles and all the other disciples heard was the New Testament for them as Jesus is our New Testament we also have the New Testament written down for us. We should be brought up then in both the Old Testament and New Testament.  It is the dependence on faith that drove the apostles and other disciples to continue what was given them by our Lord Jesus Christ to do and start the most fantastic growth a true belief could ever have.

            The disciples of Jesus Christ had no legal document of man, or a wealthy person in their group to finance their endeavor to spread God’s word.  The disciples, upon faith worked in the confines of God and succeeded as God’s tools to build His Church.  God took care of the disciples needs in a fashion that they gave the due credit to God for everything that was accomplished through them.  When driven by faith in God more can be accomplished then depending solely on our own abilities, but it does take listening to God’s word and studying His word to hear it.  The problem is that we were not raised like the disciples, and I’m not talking about the way the disciples parents raised them.  Rather the disciples were raised by Jesus Himself.  You might think that they had an advantage that we cannot have, on the contrary, we have the words of Jesus, and we just need to be better disciples of His word.  I tell you the truth being a disciple is more exciting every time you hear His words through the Holy Scripture then it is hearing it from a pastor.

            Matthew 19:26 ²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

            By faith and listening to God Joshua fought and won many battles, but to learn faith Joshua had to succumb to God’s directions at the walls of Jericho.  How many of us would march around a city seven times having priests blow seven horns, and then shout to the top of your lungs and expect the walls of the city to fall down.  Yet, Joshua and those who followed God did, and the walls of the city fell down.  How much more do you think God will do for us if we obey His authority?   “Go therefore and make disciples of all people.”  Do you think God will fail through us or that God will succeed through us?

            With man this is impossible, it is not putting faith in ourselves that makes us successful doing what God has asked us to do; rather it is putting our faith in God that He will work through us.  Putting it all together one cannot by any law do what is needed, but through the grace of God one can be worked through to accomplish great things.  With God all things are possible.  So why do we insist that we should listen to ourselves and not listen to God?  It is our sinful nature to think that we know better than God.

            Israel listened to their desires and were defeated in the city of Ai, because they did not listen to God instead of their desires.  Afterward when Joshua listened to God, God gave the city of Ai over to the Israelites and God defeated Ai through them. 

            Mark 9:28-29 ²⁸ And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

            I tell you the truth I have great faith in prayer to God, my faith is secure in that God will answer my prayer and your prayers too.  Praying in the will of God is easier than you think, and pleasing to God.

            Matthew 17:19-20 ¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰ He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

            By faith in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit all things are possible.  I tell you the truth we are with God and with God we can overcome all obstacles and God can accomplish great things through us.  In fact with God we can have faith that He has done what we cannot and that is just in our salvation and His creation.

            Ephesians 2:8-10 ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

            God commissioned all of His disciples to go out to all peoples; this is a commission of good works which God has prepared beforehand for we His workmanship to do.  However our works are for the use of God for Him to build up His Kingdom through us.  For God has saved us through Christ.  Our works play no part in our salvation as it is through the grace of God that we are saved.  We are reborn in Christ and given the gift of salvation through His works on the cross.  Therefore let us rejoice in this gift and know it is from our Lord Jesus Christ who secured it for us on the cross giving us forgiveness and freedom from the clutches of eternal death.  For it is our Lord Jesus Christ’s works that come first as God loves us first.  In this love of God we can feel secure and have great faith in that He has perfected through gifting us with salvation an everlasting love, life and relationship He planned for us to have with Him our God.  Faith and amen, amen in the name of our Triune God, God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“Our Intended Life”

            Isaiah 57:15 ¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

            Contrite is another word for one who is repentant.  Surely when one is in the mode of repentance they are spiritually saddened by the fact that they sinned and therefore need to repent.  God, the One who is lifted up, knows this.  So we can know that we have a God who is compassionate and understanding, to those whom He has called to believe in Him and be His children. 

            Though God calls us all to be His sadly there are those who will turn away.    Though some are wicked and do not believe in Christ as their savior and our savior there is still hope for them too.   It is only the one who stays wicked that has no peace, the great news is the new believer is always revived.

            Isaiah 57:20–21²⁰But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.  ²¹There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

            The wicked are those again who do not believe in Christ as their savior and our savior, as well as being a sinner.  We are all sinners even those who believe in Christ.  In fact, those who believe in Christ know that they are sinners and need a savior to enable them to live the life God intended us to live.  Our sin separates us from God and threatens to take our intended life from us.  Yet, we still go on sinning disappointing God and wondering if He will stop loving us.

            Like Adam and Eve we sin and try to hide it from God.  Adam and Eve thought that the knowledge of all good and evil would help them.  Knowledge, like a new tool doesn’t do you as much good in the beginning as you do not have all the experience to use it 100%.  Knowledge is like this, have you ever watch “Under Cover Boss,” where the CEO dresses up like a worker and goes out to try to learn one of the jobs that is expected of their employees?  The CEO most of the time can’t perform the task given to them or they lack efficiency to do it well.  The CEO sees that it takes time and a special knowledge to complete the task correctly and they do not have this knowledge or talent.

            Knowledge, like that of God’s, takes a special talent and experience that only God has, and only God can have.  We might know a lot, but even the smartest and wisest of our human kind can’t wield the knowledge of God.  We can’t hide our sin, even from ourselves though we might try hard to do so.  We need help, we need healing from our iniquities, we need forgiveness, and we need a savior.

            Isaiah 57:16–19 ¹⁶For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.  ¹⁷Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. ¹⁸I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, ¹⁹creating the fruit of the lips.

Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,

“and I will heal him.

            Yes one in true repentance mode is low in spirit, because we know that we sinned and have been a disappointment to God to those around us, and even to ourselves.  But the good news is that our God knows this, and even says He will revive our heart regardless of our sin and all of our backsliding and He will heal us. 

            What you ask is the healing we need?  It is that our God knows that even with all of the knowledge we might have at our disposal we cannot on our own defeat our sinful nature.   We cannot defeat death and stay the punishment that the law demands for our sin.  But Christ can!  And He has already done this.  Jesus Christ has healed us through forgiveness.

            John 3:16–18a ¹⁶[Jesus said:] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.   ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned,

            Isn’t it great!  We get to worship a God who loves us all, who does not want to condemn us but actually wants to save us.  What manmade god loves those who worship them, and how can a manmade god love?  Our God the Alpha and the Omega, the eternal One lifted high, and the creator of all things creating everything with His spoken Word where there was nothing is truly the only real God who has chosen to be a God of love.  This is great!  This is Awesome!

            God the Father gave up His Son to suffer and die to prove His love for all of whom He created.  He sent His Son to heal us from our sin, forgive us for the sins committed, and to assure us that our intended life eternal is saved through Him.  This is great!  We get to worship a real God who loves us so dearly that He even sacrifices so we can live an eternal relationship with Him, this our intended life!  Amen.