“The Lord Shows His Mercy”

Sermon from Luke 1:57-80:

Yesterday was my wife’s birthday. I am so thankful for my wife. She truly is a gift from the Lord. I have learned and experienced many things because I married Ellen. One of the things that Ellen has introduced me to is musicals. We have had the opportunity to attend several different musicals throughout our marriage. During a musical, when a certain actor wants to be highlighted on the stage, a spotlight shines on them so the audience knows this is where you look. Today, I pray that I will be able to shine a spotlight to show the Lord’s Mercy in our text this morning. We will be studying John the Baptist, who served as a spotlight for the Lord Jesus. He did not want the light to shine on himself, but turned the spotlight on Jesus Christ. I pray that I will be able to do the same this morning. First point,

I. The Lord Shows His Mercy In Giving His Word (57-58)

The Lord is not silent. He speaks to his people. How often do we take for granted that God speaks to his people? Verse 57, “When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.” Elizabeth probably remained in seclusion during her pregnancy and did not reveal to her neighbors and family that she was pregnant which is why it says that they, “heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy and they (the family and neighbors) shared her joy.



God kept his promise to Zechariah. Look back at verse 1:13, “But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.” Notice how this promise was fulfilled. God gave a child to Zechariah’s barren older wife and her neighbors and relatives shared in the joy of his birth. God kept his promise. We need to always remember that God always keeps his Word. So when God gives His Word, it shall come to pass. Every time we read of a promise in the Bible, we see the Lord showing mercy to his people. We do not deserve the Word of the Lord. But he gives us His Word and when he gives it, he keeps it.



What is your attitude to the Word of the Lord? Do you cherish it? Do you marvel that the Creator of the Universe speaks to us? Last week my wife was teaching Sunday School and one of the children was being a little rough with one of the Bibles and my wife said, “Be careful that is the Word of God.” The child’s eyes got real big and said, “God’s words are in here.” When was the last time your eyes got real big and you were amazed that God’s words are in here?” We need to have greater respect for the word of the Lord. Isaiah 66:1-2 says:

This is what the Lord says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? 2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”

If you want to receive favor from God, be humble and tremble at his word. I have tried to practice this in my own life during my reading times. In the past when I read books that would quote scripture, I would skim or skip the Scripture to get back to the author’s train of thought. The Lord showed that I was valuing the words of man more the Word of God. So now, I am training myself to read the scripture slowly and digest it, as a way to tremble at His word. Are you valuing the words of man more the Word of God? Do you tremble at His Word or do you crave the opinions of man? The Lord has shown us mercy in giving His Word.

II. The Lord Shows His Mercy In Giving A Name (59-66)



Verse 59, “On the eight day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No!” He is to be called John.” They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, His name is John.” The custom was for a male child to be named after a father or grandfather. The naming of a child was a very big deal. We see from the text that the crowd had already decided on a name. It says, “they were going to name him,” literally “they were wishing to name him” after his father Zechariah.



But we know from the earlier words of the Angel Gabriel that the boy was to be given the name John. Now we do not know how Elizabeth knew this information. It could have been revealed by the Holy Spirit for it says earlier that when she spoke to Mary that she was full of the Holy Spirit. But we could also assume that Zechariah may have communicated it some way to his wife during the pregnancy. Regardless how Elizabeth knew, after Zechariah confirmed the name, the crowd marveled. They were astonished. Listen to verse 64, “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.



The neighbors and eventually all of the hill country of Judea were amazed at the naming of John and were asking, “What then is this child going to be?” The people rightly understand that the Lord hand was with the child because it was the Lord that named the child. Throughout the Old Testament when God gave the name to the child, the child was special and would be a part of his special plan.

Genesis 16:11-12 ESV

And the angel of the LORD said to Hagar, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Isaiah 7:14 ESV

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.



By naming John, God is taking responsibility for him. And we know he is special for he will be the prophet of the Most High. He will be the fulfillment in the prophecy of Malachi: he will be the one that comes and prepares the way of the Lord. God’s naming of John shows His mercy. And God loves to name His people. He gave Jacob the name Israel to identify his special people. He gave the name Immanuel, God with us, to the Messiah. And he also gives you a name. Listen to Revelation 2:17:

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’ [1]



God gives a white stone with a new name to everyone who conquers or everyone who perseveres in their faith in Jesus until the end. A white stone was commonly associated with a vote of acquittal.[2] The white of the stone is to symbolize cleanness and righteousness. Revelation 19:8-9 refers to the clothes of saints as fine linen, bright and clean representing their righteous acts. So the one who has the white stone is declared not guilty and that stone then becomes their ticket to the Marriage Super of the Lamb. So what is this new name? The new name written on the stone is God’s Own Name. Revelation 3:12:



The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.



All of these names refer to God’s name given to his people. We can see this clearly in Revelation 22:3-4



No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads.

The Lord shows His Mercy in giving a Name, His Name. The name of the King of kings and the Lord of lords will be given to us as a sign that we have overcome this world and will secure our seat at the great Marriage Super of the Lamb at the end of time. And the giving of that name starts right here in our text this morning when God gives a name to John as the forerunner to the Messiah who will announce the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins. We should love that the Lord shows His Mercy in giving a Name.

Has the Lord given you a name? Have you been identified with the name of Jesus Christ? Acts 4:12, “12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”[3] If you are here and have never trusted in the NAME of Jesus Christ, please do so today. For without His Name there is no salvation and no invitation to the great Marriage Feat of the Lamb.



III. The Lord Shows His Mercy In Giving Silence (62-64)



Look at verse 62, “Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.” Remember God made Zechariah mute because of his unbelief. But apparently we see here that he could not hear as well for they had to make signs for to him to explain their question. So he asked for a writing tablet, and he wrote, “His name is John.” Notice how Zechariah answers. He does not say, “His name will be John.” He says, “His name is John.” This shows that Zechariah now believes the promise. He has not only seen the prophecy come true in the birth of his son, but he believes in who this child will become and the role he will play in history. We know he believed for, “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed and he began to speak, praising God.”



God disciplined Zechariah for his unbelief, but Zechariah’s heart was not hardened but softened. This is how we all should respond to the chastening of the Lord. The Lord’s discipline is meant to soften out hearts and drive out unbelief. And just imagine how much of a blessing that silence was Zechariah. How he was forced to think about his doubt? Silence is such a blessing to the soul. It forces us to think. Beloved, we need silence to think. But our world pushes against silence and solitude at every turn. We live in constant noise: tvs, radios, ipods, text messages, phone calls, sirens etc. Our constant noise keeps us from thinking deeply. We do not like silence.



Instead of allowing silence to prick our consciences, we run to noise to drown out our pain and avoid those hard feelings. I believe there are many of us that do not grow in our spiritual walk, because we do not make room for silence. Silence can serve your soul. Do not run from it, embrace it. Look at how much it served Zechariah.



IV. The Lord Shows His Mercy In Giving A Horn of Salvation (67-75)



The crowd realized that the Lord’s hand was upon this child as did his father. But notice who Zechariah focuses on in this prophecy, verse 67, “His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit (like Elizabeth earlier in this chapter) and prophesied, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham and to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” Zechariah starts not focusing on his own son, but on the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Notice how Zechariah speaks in the past tense. Praise be to the Lord because he has come and has redeemed his people. And has raised up a horn of salvation for us. The mission had not been completely fulfilled. Jesus had not yet died on the cross and had not yet been raised from the dead, but Zechariah was completely confident that the start of the rescue mission meant the definite completion of the mission. Like the D-Day invasion of Normandy was the beginning to the end of World War II, the incarnation was the beginning of the end of the works of the devil. Hebrews 2:14-15:



14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself (Jesus) likewise partook of the same things (meaning flesh and blood in being born as a baby), that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.



The rescue mission had begun. And we know that it will be completed, because Jesus is called the horn of salvation. In the Old Testament, the title, “horn of salvation” always refers to God. Psalm 18:2, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” The horn of salvation was a sign of strength and power.



In Pamplona, Spain during the San Fermin Festival every July, a group of daring individuals participate the Running of the Bulls. These brave and wise individuals willingly stand in the middle of the street when a group of bulls are released to chase them through the streets of Pamplona. These animals are massive weighing an average of 2,700 pounds and run at an average speed of 15 miles per hour. Now when the bulls are released, there is only one response: to run, to run as fast as humanly possible because no one will be able to stand against their size and the strength of their horns.



Similarly, no enemies will be able to stand against the strength of our horn of salvation. This is why Zechariah is so confident and it is why we should be so confident. Jesus will deliver us from all our enemies being faithful to his covenant with his people. No enemies will be able to stand against His strength.



As much as this should give us confidence, this should also cause us to tremble. God is Holy and Righteous and no one can stand against him. This is why we all need salvation. We are unholy and depraved and are in desperate need of a Savior.



This past Friday, Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary school and did the unthinkable. My stomach turned all day when I first heard. It was awful. And it only appears to get worse with the more information that comes out. How are we to respond to this?



First, pray for the families who lost love ones and for the survivors. Pray that God would give you a heart to empathize with people who are suffering.



Second, be reminded that one day God will administer His perfect justice. We are going to be unsatisfied with justice now, but one day God will rightly punish all sin. He will make all wrongs right. A tragedy like this makes our hearts scream for justice.



Third, be reminded of our own need for a Savior. We live in a depraved culture and need a Savior. We do not like to think about the things that happened on Thursday, but they are signs that something is wrong with our world. And that something is sin. Sin is against God and will be punished. Allow the horrific events of Thursday as a catalyst for you to put to death your sin so you can live for righteousness. Romans 8:12-14:

12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.



When a horrible act of violence happened in Jesus’ day this is how he responded in Luke 13:1-5:

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

So I encourage you, like the Lord Jesus, repent so that that you will not perish. We know our world is depraved. We know that we are depraved. And this is why this text is so important to us? We have a horn of salvation in the Lord Jesus to rescue us from the works of the Evil one. Jesus lived and died to destroy the works of the devil; works which we witnessed this past Friday in Connecticut. He destroyed death through his resurrection of the dead for all who would turn to him as their horn of salvation. He will enable you to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all your days. The Lord shows His Mercy in giving a Horn of Salvation.



V. The Lord Shows His Mercy in Giving A Mission (75-80)

After prophesying about the Lord Jesus, Zechariah then turns back to his Son in verse 76, “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into a path of peace. And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.” God had a special purpose for John. John was going to be the forerunner to the Messiah, the one that was going to prepare the way. And how does John prepare the way for the Messiah? John gives the people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. John would bring many people back to the Lord and helped turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous. God gave John a unique mission to prepare the way for Jesus in proclaiming the knowledge of salvation. Likewise, God has given us a mission to proclaim the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins. The only way one has salvation is if their sins are forgiven. There are a lot of ways people think they can be saved, but those ways do not come through the forgiveness of sins. The only way to have your sins forgiven is to have someone pay the penalty of those sins. And that is what we celebrate this Christmas. We celebrate the One who came to pay the penalty of our sins, our strong horn of salvation. He came to us who were living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace. Jesus is our peace. He is the light. He came into our darkness so that we could tell others about His Light.

On Aug 5th, 2012, 33 Chilean Miners were trapped 2,230 feet under the earth when the roof of their mine collapsed. They were trapped underground for 69 days. They were in darkness. They were trapped and there was no way out; there was nothing they could do. They were surrounded by darkness. On the surface there was a team of men working tireless to save these men lives. After two and half months, these men finally succeeded in the rescue. The miners were brought out of darkness to the light. The rescuers did not create the light, but worked as hard as they could to get people to the light. God has called you to be a rescuer!! You did not create the light, but are called to bring people into that light so that they may be saved. Are you on mission? Are you working to bringing people into the light? Or are you content to leave people in darkness?

John1:6-9

“6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

The light has come. Will you be a witness to that light? Will you be a spotlight for the Lord Jesus?

---

^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Re 2:17). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

^[2] Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: A commentary on the Greek text. New International Greek Testament Commentary (252). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

^[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Ac 4:12). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Anchors for Children's Minstry

Below are a lists of bullet points that help explain my philosophy of Children's Ministry.

I. Children are Important

Children were not valued in the 1st century. You can see this in the life and ministry of Jesus. Luke 18:15-17, “Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” The surrounding culture tried to minimize the importance of children, even the disciples, Jesus rebuked them. Children are important to Jesus and should be important to us.

Our society does not value all children. If our society valued children, abortion would not be so prominent in our culture. We also would have more people willing to adopt children that are not able to be cared for by their parents. We also would not have more households in America with dogs than children. Children are important to God and should be important in the church.

II. Children are Sinners and need a Savior.

One side of our culture says that children are unimportant while the other side of the culture leans to child being the center of life. Children are sinners and therefore they need a Savior. We have to teach children to hate their sin and to love God. We cannot tolerate sin in our children. We also cannot ignore it. Our children act and behave out of the overflow of their heart. Matthew 15:18, “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts –murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person.” So when we see anger and rage in the hearts of our children towards their siblings or over a toy or when we tell them “No,” they are revealing their hearts to us. And it is not a pretty sight. “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child (Proverbs 22:15).” We must not be blind to our children’s sin.

Children need to be taught the Gospel. Children need to learn that they are utterly hopeless without God that their hearts are black with sin. They need to know that they need a Savior and His name is Jesus. We try to do through our Gospel Project Curriculum for Sunday School. We try to teach how every Bible story relates back to Jesus Christ. For example, how the story Joseph suffered on his way to and in his time in Egypt to make a way to save his family from the intense famine is how Jesus Christ came and suffered to make a way to save us from our death. The most important thing we can do for our children is to teach them the Gospel. How are they going to reach a world for Jesus Christ if they do not know the gospel?

III. Children's Ministry Needs to Be Saturated with the Word

Foundational to every Children’s Ministry is going to be the Word of God. The Word of God accompanied by the Spirit of God brings life to our children. We want all of our children to know and believe in God’s Word. Children are sponges so we want to saturate them in the Word so when they are squeezed, the Word oozes out. Our children will be squeezed by this world. They are going to deal with sin and persecution so we want to train them in those situations to turn to the Lord and His Word. We want to provide them anchors for the little souls as they navigate through life.


IV. Children’s Spiritual Development is the Responsibility of Parents (particularly fathers)

The spiritual development of children is the responsibility of the parents and particularly, the responsibility of the father.

Deut 6:4-8 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Colossians 3:21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

It is the clear teaching of Scripture that the responsibility of a child’s spiritual development is the father. The Bible addresses fathers because fathers are the head of the home. Fathers were often viewed as the priest of the home where they went before the throne of God on behalf of their family. So as a church, we need to be careful to continue to give tools to families and encourage fathers to lead their families in Christ.

This is not natural for most of us. Very few men in church today were taught how to disciple their families in the Word. The church must be a training ground for men to lead their families spiritual. Most men abdicate their responsibility as spiritual leader to their wives (and historically they have been more faithful to the task). We do not want to create any programs or activities that are going to remove the responsibilities from the parents. We also do not want to ignore the thoughts and ideas of parents in how to better serve their children. This is a community project.

V. Children Must be Taught Spirit Empowered Obedience

Children need to be taught obedience. Ephesians 6:1-3, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” There is a blessing in the obedience of children to their parents. As the Scripture above shows obedience comes with a promise. But we should also know that children will disobey their parents. The disobedience to their parents’ word is a representation of their disobedience to God. Children are lawbreakers, therefore they need something better than the law i.e. the gospel.

Romans 8:1-4, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,[c]he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Children cannot obey the law because of their sin. The law is only meant to expose their sin and their need for the Savior. So in Children’s Ministry, we must teach obedience that is connected to the gospel. We do not want just to teach good behaviors, but behaviors that are birthed out of the love for Jesus Christ.

VI. Children Must be Taught Deep Truths

Children need anchors for their souls. This world is full of false and deceptive philosophies. We need to teach children about our Big God and the Big Promises he makes in his Word. Children need to learn who God is and who am I in relation to God. Children need to learn the doctrine of justification, sanctification, ecclesiology, of the Holy Spirit, of human depravity, of salvation, of glorification etc. We should challenge our children with the great truths of our God. We must do so with wisdom and in an age-appropriate way, but we must teach our children the deep truths of God. In this world full of false gospels and half-truths, it is imperative to provide anchors for our children’s souls.



Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites were consistently challenged to pass on the truths of God to the next generation. We can see this in Psalm 78:1-8

Psalms 78:1–8

{A Maskil of Asaph.} Listen, O my people, to my instruction; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, 3 which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 4 We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children, 6 that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, thatthey may arise and tell them to their children, 7 that they should put their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, 8 and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.



VII. Children Should See Complementarian Roles


Children need to see healthy marriages and healthy structures in the local church. Our society will indoctrinate our children with their views of the family and genders through the public school system, television, news, magazines, music, etc. The church has to teach our children what the Bible says about what it means to be a man and not a woman and what is means to be a woman and not a man. We cannot leave these things untaught. To that end, the church must show our children that God created men and women equal in person and yet different in roles. Men are to be the loving, sacrificial leader in the home and the church and women are to be submissive and supportive as they follow their husbands in the homes and pastors/deacons in the church. Therefore, there should be an active present of men involved to the ministry of children in the church. (Ephesians 5:21-33, Colossians 17-19, Genesis 1:26-28)



VIII. Children must know the Church is for the Gathered Believers (Experience Worship)

Children need experience a robust ecclesiology. They must not only be taught about the church, but to actually be a part of the church. It is crucial to instill in our children a deep love for the church and a deep love for the preached word of God. Children need to be present when the congregation gathers. Children need to be known by the oldest members of the congregation to the leadership of the church. Unregenerate children need consistent exposure to the church to hear the word being preached, to see the ordinances being administered and to see the love between the members of the church. (John 13:34-35)

The church is called to be distinct and separate from the world. Therefore, the church must be intentional in pushing back against the world. Friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4). The gathering is for Christians. We want to remove distractions and hindrances for people when they come to the church, but always keeping in mind that the gathering is for believers. We cannot aim to meet the desires of people who are lost and do not love God. We need to teach people who are lost to love God and submit to his Word.

IX. Children Need to Learn that Church and life is about God



Children are selfish. They want the world to be about themselves. The world is not about them, it is about God. One way to teach children that the world is about God is to teach children to serve. We should teach children the value of serving the church whether that is through baking cookies for shut-ins or passing out bulletins, God wants his people to serve. Our culture wants everything to be about us so we need to fight the “Me-ism” of our day (both in our own hearts and in the hearts of our children).



X. Children’s Programs cannot dominate the church

Children’s programs take a lot of physical manpower to pull off. Children programs can exhaust the volunteers within a church and can limit their ability to participate within the church. Church’s cannot be program driven. The church has to be Spirit-Driven. This is difficult in our day since we want a lot of programs, but we need to allow people time to live as the church. Programs do not always serve the church’s mission in fulfilling the great commission, but rather exhaust people so in their free time they are unable to invest in non-believers.

Children need to have fun because the Christian life is a life of joy. Children should have great experiences with their family so children should also have great experiences with their church family. We should have specific events for children, but need to be wise in how to have those events enhance church life and not detract from it.

Glad Submission

I. Natural Doubters

It is amazing to watch the development of a child. I have been blessed to have three children. And I love to watch them grow. John David is now getting to the point when he has become very opinionated. It is a sad day when your son starts to question whether what you say is right. He used to trust my word without question. If daddy said it, then it must be true. But as he has grown, he has started to doubt my words. He wants more and more verification in what I am telling him. He especially enjoys telling me that I am going the wrong way when we are in the car. I am not sure if you knew this, but 4 year old are excellent navigators. They may not know their right from their left, but they know what is the right and wrong way to go. So the days of the simple trust in my words have passed. We all get there. In this life as we grow we become doubters. We want more and more proof in the words that told to us.

Now it could be a sign of the times. We live in a world that is exploding with information. There are more books written, articles read and news programs developed in a single year than probably the entire 19th century combined. We live in an age of information. But I do not think our doubt is driven from our time, but our nature. Human Nature is one that doubts. We doubt what others say. We especially doubt those things that seem to be too good to be true or things that seem so awful that they must not be true. I believe we also doubt because we do not want to go against anything in our own heads. We like to come up with the right saying or the truth. We want to follow what we feel and what we believe. Our nature is often diametrically opposed to trust. We are doubters. As seen in the growth of my children, we all get to a point when we do not want to trust the words we are being told. We doubt others and trust ourselves. When we should doubt ourselves and trust God. God has given us his Word to trust and believe, but we often doubt his word. We doubt it because he promises things that seem too good to be true and he also reveals to us how desperately evil our hearts can actually be. So this morning, I pray that we turn from doubting God’s Word to gladly submitting to it.

We continue our study in the gospel of Luke this morning. Remember our time last week, we looked at how this Gospel could be trusted from the careful research and eyewitness accounts so that we may be certain in the things that we have been taught. Luke then starts to unfold God’s plan in the incarnation by showing the responses of two people when they hear about the promise of a child. One responds well and the other responds poorly. We look first at how Zechariah, a priest, who responds to the Word of the Lord poorly. First point,

II. Doubting the Word brings Displeasure to God (v 5-23)

We see the main characters of this section introduced. Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah and his wife Elizabeth who was also a descendant of Aaron, were both of priestly decent. A man and a wife that were both of a priestly lineage was a sign of blessing. Now, the line of Abijah was known as a wicked sect, but we know that is not true of Zechariah and Elizabeth, for we read in verse 6, “And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statues of the Lord.” Zechariah and Elizabeth were a righteous couple. The word righteousness used here refers to a moral upright righteousness. They lived a godly and holy life. Still sinners, but tried to follow the commandments and statues of the Lord. But although they were righteous, their lives were not without trouble.

a. Suffering can lead to Doubt, but We Must Trust His Plan (v.5-10)

V.7 But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.” Barrenness in the Jewish world was always looked at as a judgment from God. Their barrenness caused them to suffer disgrace or disapproval from the people. We can clearly see from verse 24 that Elizabeth felt the disgrace from the community.

I am sure it would have been difficult for Elizabeth and Zechariah to understand why they were without a child. They lived upright lives. They served the Lord. They had good heritage. And yet, they were without a child. Their suffering was not a result of sin for Luke describes them as righteous. But the righteous still suffer. And suffering can lead to doubt. There may be some of you that are suffering. Maybe your suffering is leading you to ask similar questions, “Lord why can’t I conceive? Why can’t I find a spouse? Why does my spouse treat me this way? Why can’t I find a job? Why won’t this pain go away?

But I think what we can see from this text, is that God is working. Suffering can lead to doubt, but you must trust God’s plan. He knows what he is doing. As we will see, even Elizabeth’s barrenness and Zechariah’s age, were all under the Sovereign control of the Lord. Their suffering will become their glory.

Verse 8, “Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.” So this was huge for Zechariah. This was his big day. With the size of the priesthood, man would only be able to perform this duty once in his lifetime. This was his BCS Bowl, his opportunity to meet the President, his time to be on Oprah’s Favorite Things, needless to say it was a big deal, once in a lifetime opportuntity. So although his wife is barren and he is looked at with disgrace, his big day has arrived.

b. Big Words can lead to Doubt, but We Must Trust His Promises (v.11-17)

In verse 11, “Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.” Let’s remember that God is a Big and Powerful God. Every time you see people encounter Angels in the Bible, they don’t go, “awe…isn’t he cute.” Angels are not cute babies with wings or young girls. They are Awesome, Terrifying, Amazing, Powerful, Servants of God. Our God is Awesome and Terrifying, shouldn’t his servants be the same way. The cute angelic chubby baby angels or the serene teenage girl angel are nowhere in the Bible. God’s Angels strike fear in the hearts of those they encounter. Are world wants to domesticate God. Do not allow this world to domesticate God in your thinking. He is powerful. I am not saying you should go home and remove every cute angel from your house, but every time you look at them be reminded how this world likes to comfort themselves by domesticating God. And then encourage yourself with how great and powerful our God truly is!!

Verse 13, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

These are some big words. This Angel announces that God has heard Zechariah’s prayer. Zechariah your prayer is being answered. Now, we do not know exactly what his prayer was that was being answered. We can imagine that he often prayed for a child, but we also know that he was performing his priestly duties offering prayers to God for the salvation of Israel. The prayer was answered. God was going to save Israel by using Zechariah’s child as the one who is going to prepare the way. As a priest, Zechariah had to know that the Angel was quoting Malachi 4:5-6, “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” Remember Malachi was one of the last prophetic voices in the nation of Israel before 300 years of silence. All priests would have been familiar with this prophecy. And this Angel says, “This prophecy is going to be fulfilled through the child of your old, barren wife.” Say what? For Real?

When the Promise is very big it is hard for us to believe. Some of you cannot believe that you are forgiven. You think about your past and the mistakes that you made. You think about how you have hurt people. You hear that if you trust in Jesus Christ that you are forgiven. Those are big words that can lead to doubt, but you must trust His Promises. God can give big words, because he is a Big God. Trust Him. Trust Him. Look at verse 24, “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” God keeps his Word.

c. Pride can lead to Doubt, but We Must Know Our Place (v.18-23)

Instead of receiving this great promise, Zechariah asks for more evidence. In verse 18, “Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Zechariah wants proof. How can I know? And look at the angel’s response, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true in their proper time.” Angel responds by telling Zechariah his name. You want a sign. I am Gabriel. I speak for the Lord. Gabriel is indignant with the pride and arrogance of Zechariah.

Luke says later in this gospel in Luke 11:29, “When the crowds were increasing, Jesus (he) began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Zechariah is rebuked for demanding evidence and Jesus calls this generation evil for seeking a sign. Now remember, Zechariah is a good man. He is referred to as righteous. But in this moment, he does not believe the Word of the Lord. He is acting like the world demanding a sign from God to prove that his Word is true.

Beloved, I think this is instructive for us. How often do we not trust God at this Word, but demand for signs? Or how often do we rationalize away God’s Word because it does not fit into our culture context? When you encounter something that does not fit with our culture, do you side with the culture or the Bible? How do you deal with 1 Tim 2:12 when Paul writes, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” Or Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account?” Do you ask yourself how I can follow that teaching or how can I refute it? We do not want to respond to God’s Word like Zechariah did here. We do not want to demand a sign along with this evil generation. His doubting brought displeasure to the Lord. Pride can lead to doubt, we must know our place. We want to believe and trust God’s Word. For, second point.

III. Believing the Word brings Blessings from God (v. 24-56)

We don’t want to be like Zechariah, but we do want to be like Mary. In the first century, this would have been a terrible way to start a story. Women were not respected in the 1st century society. Luke is explaining, from his careful research and eyewitness interviews, what took place. Luke often highlights women through this gospel. But I do not think we can understand how shocking this comparison was: Do not be like the Highly-Respected Priest, be like a humble teenage girl. So let’s clarify two things. First,

a. Confusion is not Disbelief (v.24-33)

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

She was great troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. There is no doubt in Mary, but rather confusion. She does not understand. The Angel simple gave her more information. And along similar lines:

b. Clarification is not Disbelief (v.34-37)

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[c] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary asked a very realistic question, “How will this be since I am a virgin? Mary wanted to know how, not if. Mary believed the Angel: Nothing is impossible with God.

It is ok to ask questions. It is ok to ask God for more understanding, but do it with a believing heart. So what does this believing heart look like?

c. Belief looks like:

i. Glad Submission (v.38)

Verse 38, “38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.” Mary shows a glad submission to the Word of the Lord. It is simple, but it is not easy. Remember Mary was a teenage girl who was engaged to be married. This would be a hard one to explain to her future husband. (Thankfully the Lord gave some Divine Dreams to Joseph). But this child would bring Mary disgrace. People would question her character. She could possibly bring down the reputation of her family. This was not easy, but Mary did not look at the negatives. Mary found favor with God. Glad Submission to His Word brings favor from God.

If you want to have the Lord’s favor, gladly submit to His Word. The world may not cheer you, but God will be pleased. And isn’t that what we want? As Christians, we our main motivations should be to please the Lord. We please him trusting and obeying him.

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Mary trusted and obeyed. She may have been mocked and chided, but her glad submission brought her blessings. I pray it will be with us as well. Secondly, Belief looks like:

ii. Humble Adoration (v.39-45)

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

Elizabeth, another woman, humbly adores the incarnate Jesus. Elizabeth was so humble that she did not understand how she could experience the Lord’s favor. She was already with child and now she was in the presence of the mother of the Messiah. Elizabeth knew she did not deserve the Lord’s blessing, but humbly accepted them. Listen to verse 45, “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” Luke highlights the believing of Mary while in the home of the silent Zechariah that did not believe. We can be blessed if we believe what the Lord has said is true. When we read the Christmas story, let us not lose our amazement. We see two miracles. The danger of over exposure is that we lose our wonder. God is preparing a way for salvation through an old barren couple and a virgin teenage girl. This is miraculous!!

And should result in:

iii. Joyful Praise (v.45-56)

46 And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers.” 56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.



Our response to the Word should be joyful praise. Mary responded with the language of the Psalms. If you want to further study this Song, compare it to Hannah’s Prayer in 1 Samuel 2. Let me point out two things from this song. First, notice how it speaks to how close God is to the humble. Verse 48,” for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” Verse 51 and following, “51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” Luke is telling the most excellent Theophilus that God is not impressed with accolades of this world. He is not impressed with the rich for he sends them away empty. He is not impressed with rulers for he brought them down off their thrones. He is not impressed with the proud of heart for he has scattered them. The Lord is mindful of the humble state of his servants. For this whole story is about the humbling of True Servant, the Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And this story is our story. God has come to be our Savior in Jesus Christ. Listen to verse 50, “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.” And verse 54, “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever.” The Lord’s mercy extends to us from generation to generation. He has remembered to merciful to the descendants of Abraham which we are by faith. The Christmas story is our story. This story is about our salvation. Mary knew she needed a Savior. She knew Israel knew a Savior. She knew we would need a Savior. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So Jesus was born as the Savior. He lived in perfect submission to the Father’s will. He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. His death on the cross purchased our salvation. He died in our place. But God raised Him from the dead so that anyone who fears him, from generation to generation, will receive his mercy. Those who gladly submit to His Word will not receive punishment, but blessing. You will be forgiven by God and be saved from your sin. We receive this Word by turning from our pride and doubt to belief with glad submission, humble adoration and joyful praise.

Where are you this morning? Do you think of the Christmas story as your story? Are you believing or doubting? God’s Word is Trustworthy. Trust Him.

Waiting on Christmas

“5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.” Psalm 130:5-6

Beloved,

We have now officially entered this advent season. Advent is a season when we pay extra attention to the coming of our Lord in his incarnation. Our souls wait for the Lord. But isn’t hard to wait for the Lord in this season? We are surrounded by busyness and commercialism. At the end of this season, we usually are not strengthened and encouraged, but stressed and exhausted. We have to fight against the flow of our culture. This is a great season of celebration and we should celebrate, but we should celebrate as Christians in the coming of our Lord.

Imagine God’s people in the 1st century. God’s prophetic voice had gone silent. The people anxiously waited for God to come and free them from Roman oppression and restore the nation of Israel. But as each year passed, all they heard was silence. But even in the midst of that silence, God’s people waited. They continued to hope in His Word. Their hope was like that of the watchman who would climb towers during the night to ensure that cities were protected against enemies. During the night, the watchmen were diligent and steadfast as they waited for the morning sun to rise and bring another day of safety to the people.

We are called to be like those watchmen. We are called to be diligent and steadfast as we wait for the Lord. We all have a variety of different concerns in life, but let us harness the anxious waiting of the 1st century Jews. They knew God would act. They hoped in His Word. Beloved, God will act. Continue to hope in His Word.

Christmas shows us that God always keeps his Word. Wait with expectation this season. “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 Waiting is a glorious exercise of faith. Let your faith be strengthened this Christmas as you wait for the Lord.

In Christ,

Pastor Dave

Certainty of Faith: Living Against the Grain

“Certainty of Faith: Living Against the Grain”

 What Happened?

“So what happened?” a question that I would often ask during my days as a director of a group home of teenage girls. Inevitably, some situation would arise, as situations often do among teenage girls, and I would have task to figure out what happened. I had to interview the girls and staff involved. I had to take notes and document all that was said. It is always interesting during this exercise, because very rarely did the girls involved in the situation, see the situation in the same way. One felt that her actions were justified because of the provocation of the other one. While the other felt, she was completely innocent and therefore should be free of any and all punishment. But as more conversations happened, it eventually became relatively clear what occurred. Even though I was not directly there, after talking with the eye witnesses and all involved, I could come to a reasonable certainty of what happened. It was not easy or quick, but after careful investigation and research, I was confident that I knew what happened.

This morning we are going to start the Gospel of Luke. And Luke is going to begin answering the question, “What happened?” Christianity has changed the world. What started as a small Jewish Sect has grown to a worldwide religion!! During the days of the apostles, everyone was talking about Jesus Christ and his followers. It was the talk of the day. There were a lot of things happening with all these Christians. There was a dramatic change in the apostles.

Remember prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, the apostles were afraid of persecution and death so they abandoned Jesus. Remember Peter who said, “Though they (the other disciples) all fall away because of you, I will never fall away (Matt 26:33).” Jesus replied, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.” But you know how words often don’t follow through with action. Not only did Peter not die for Jesus, but called down curses upon himself when he was challenged for even knowing Jesus. And all the other disciples denied him as well. So all the apostles scattered and abandoned their friend and Lord. But within several months they were standing before the Religious Elite testifying in the name of Jesus Christ. From denying Jesus to a servant girl to standing boldly before the most powerful of the day declaring that salvation is found in no other name. So what happened? Well that is exactly why Luke chose to write this gospel.

We know from church history and the early apostolic writings that this gospel was written by Paul’s beloved Physician, Luke. The earliest manuscripts do not have his name attached to the gospel, but we know that whoever wrote Luke also wrote Acts as they are addressed to the same person, the most excellent Theophilus. “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.” We also can gather from certain sections of Acts known as the “We passages” that the writer of Luke-Acts was one of Paul’s traveling companions. Luke falls into that category and from the testimony of the early church, we can be fairly certain that Dr. Luke was the author of this gospel that bears his name as well as book of Acts. It is important to connect Luke and Acts early in our study so we know that this gospel was always meant to be the first book in a two-part series. It is like when you are watching a show and it is a two part episode. The writers have both episodes in mind before they complete the first one. It is clear throughout this gospel that Luke had in mind the events in Acts. So even in the first sentence, we see that, “many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,” The “among us” is referring to Christians, the followers of Jesus. This gospel would only be able to accomplish the foundation of who Christians are and how they came to be, but would need a follow up book to provide an account of the things that had been accomplished among the Christians through the Holy Spirit in the expansion of the gospel to the Gentile world.

But there is something that we should focus on here. Why is there even a need for this orderly account? The reason this book was necessary was because the world was asking, “What happened?” Christian lives should always make people ask, “What happened?” The Christian should look dramatically different than what he was before. The apostles went from timid and scared to bold and courageous and people wanted to know, “what happened?” We have our life before we repented and believed in Jesus, and then we have our life after we trusted Jesus. Before, the Bible says, that we are dead in our sin, objects of God’s wrath, even calling us his enemies. But another way of saying it; is that we were living like everybody else. Our values were the values of the world. Our desires were the desires of the world. We trusted in the power structures of this world. We sought after making a name for ourselves rather than a name for God. When our lives are indistinguishable from the world and its behaviors, people will never ask us what happened? There would be no need for anyone to ask us because there would not be anything different about us. The world saw a difference in the lives of Christians and people wanted to know what happened. Their lives were radically different so Luke began in this gospel to give a radical explanation.

Has Jesus made a difference in your life? Does your life look different than it did before? Christians should live such radical lives that they demand a radical explanation. So how does one become radical? Well, there is a lot of ways to answer that and Luke shows us how Christians were called to live by Jesus in the rest of his gospel. But if I can provide a sweeping generalization from this gospel is that Luke is calling Christians to live counter-cultural lives. Live against the grain of the world. Jesus wants us to live against the flow and pressure of this world and be striving to be His disciple. All of life is about Jesus Christ. All of your life speaks about your relationship with Jesus Christ. How you handle: your checkbook, your recreation your interactions with your children or spouse, your church attendance or lack thereof? Everything you do reflects your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Let me ask you a question, are you striving to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus? Are you expending ourselves for Jesus our King? Or does your life look like the rest of the world? One of the greatest dangers to this radical discipleship that we will see throughout this book is how easily we can be influenced to think and become like this world rather than to think and be like God. Romans 12:1-2:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

God has placed a high calling on our lives as Christians, because he has given us His name. We have been born-again Christians. We represent Jesus Christ to this world. And if we represent Jesus Christ, shouldn’t our lives reflect that? Our lives are called to be distinct, set apart from the world. Christians, by nature, are aliens and strangers here. We long for the day when our journey will end and we will finally go to our heavenly home.

Can I encourage you to get plugged into a Sunday School class? It is very hard to live against the grain by yourself. I do not think we understand how dangerous this world really is to our souls. A friend of the world is an enemy of God. We need each other to help us live against the grain. Plug into a Sunday School class and develop relationships with people that can encourage your walks with Christ. We need fellowship. My first two years in college I struggled living the Christian life. I had a difficult time resisting the temptations of the World. After my sophomore year, I rededicated my life to Jesus, but was going back to an environment where I did not have many Christian friends. When I arrived on campus, I knew that if my faith was going to survive, I was going to have to find support. I met Stan Chen. He was a solid Christian. On the surface we had nothing in common. We came from different backgrounds, different ethnicities. I was a hugger and he loved handshakes. But I pursued a relationship with him to help me live against the grain. We meet every Monday night for dinner for two years. If it was not for his friendship, I would have continued loving the world. Sunday School is the place where you can start to develop deeper relationships. Confess your struggles. Ask for prayer. If you feel disconnected from the church, one of the reasons could be that you are not plugged in relationally to the church.

How do you know?

Luke is first answering the “what happened” question, but he is always answering the “how do you know” question. Notice first that Luke is not the only one who has written on this movement of Christians. “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us.” There are other gospels or historical narratives about Jesus: Mark, Matthew and John. Many believe at the time of Luke’s writing, probably around early 60s AD that Mark and Matthew both already existed.

So it is logical then for Luke to have used the gospel of Mark and Matthew in his research. Secondly, notice his sources. Verse 2 says, “just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first (or beginning) were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.” So Luke received his information about Jesus Christ from people that were there; the eyewitnesses and the servants who served alongside Jesus, primarily the apostles and possibly other disciples. Verse 3 says, “Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning.” This shows that Luke was not haphazard in his approach to his work. It says that he “carefully investigated” from the beginning. He investigated the other gospels, Mark and Matthew, and eyewitness accounts. He did this to write and orderly account of the narrative of Jesus life and what was fulfilled in the life of the early church.

Now it says that Luke wrote to most excellent Theophilus so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Who is Theophilus? Most scholars believe that Theophilus was a Roman official since he was addressed most excellent (which was a common title for Roman officials of the day). They also believed that Theophilus may have been the patron that supported Luke while he did this work. We know that this type of careful investigation would have taken a considerable amount of time so many feel that Theophilus must have fit the bill which enabled Luke to write both this gospel and the books of Acts.

We live in an age of skepticism. I am sure that you have heard many people say, “You can’t trust the Bible,” but beloved, those people are dead wrong. We can trust the Bible because the Bible is also a book of History. Jesus Christ is not just some mythical figure, but he was Mary and Joseph’s son from Nazareth. Luke is going to carefully detail the accounts of his life to explain how the Christians came to be. He carefully researched and investigated. He talked with eyewitnesses. We can trust this gospel. The people who say things like, “we can’t trust the Bible” have just not done their homework. We other sources from the 1st century that confirm the events recorded in the New Testament. We have Jewish and pagan sources that support the information in the New Testament; sources from people that were against Christians. Listen to what Dr. James South, says we can learn from these sources:

First, they confirm that He actually lived. One still hears the claim occasionally that Jesus never existed, or that we can’t know from history that he existed. Those making these claims are either ignorant of the evidence or dishonest in ignoring it. Second, they confirm several basic facts about Jesus which are stated in the gospels. (Listen what these non Christian sources confirm).They establish that he lived in Palestine in the First Century AD, he had a brother names James, the Jewish leadership called for his death, he was crucified by the Romans during the governorship of Pilate, he was known as a teacher, his ministry was characterized by miracle-working, he was believed by his followers to have been the Messiah, he was worshipped as Deity, and his followers were called Christians. The non-Christians sources do not give us any additional information that was not already recorded in the Gospels, but their corroboration is of great importance, since it comes from sources that could hardly be accused of being biased in favor of Christianity.[1]

I say all that so let you know that you can actually trust the Bible. The Bible has stood against skeptics and cynics for thousands of years and still is trusted as a reliable historical document. You can trust the Bible. You can trust the message of the Bible.

Can you be sure?

In our era of doubt, we just want reassurance. So listen to verse 4, “so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” Luke wrote this gospel so that its recipient, the most excellent Theophilus, would have certainty of the things he had been taught. So by extension, we can know for certainty the things in this gospel. The Greek word used there could also be translated safety. So you are safe to trust the events and details about Jesus in this gospel.

Notice that Theophilus had already been taught about Jesus Christ. Luke wanted to reassure Theophilus that it was safe to trust the things he had been taught. This shows us something. We need to be taught. Human beings are born in sin and clothed with iniquity. We are a fallen race and our depravity is extended to our minds and our knowledge. Christianity is based on facts. Our faith is rooted on facts. We need to be taught the truth about God. I believe this is so important to remember in our age where man is king. So many people question the Bible as if to they have the right and the knowledge to doubt the Word of God. This world has an inflated view of man. Man is not the center of the universe; God is the center of the universe. All of our lives should be about knowing and learning and worshiping God for this is his world and we belong, body and soul, in life and in death to Him.

God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. We do not want to be proud and think that we do not need knowledge. We need to be taught. This is one of the reasons God has given teachers to the church so that people can grow in the knowledge of God. And that is why the longest part of this service is the exposition of the Word of God so we can learn to think rightly about God. James 3:1, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” God is going to judge teachers more strictly because he cares about what is being taught. We need to be taught. And what we are taught, we need to be able to trust. Beloved, it is safe to trust this Book. This Word is trustworthy.

Listen to Jeremiah 9:23-24:

23 This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.

Our culture wants the wise man to boast in his wisdom, the strong man to boast in his strength and the rich man to boast in his riches. Our culture craves power and values celebrity. And unfortunately, those views have seeped into the evangelical church are becoming more and more popular. We boast in our worldly wisdom though God has made foolish the wisdom of the wise. We boast in our strength when in our weakness, God is strong. We boast in our riches when God says that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Beloved, do not boast like our world, “but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth.” Our boast should be that we understand and know the Lord. And how do we know the Lord?

John 1:9-18:

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own,[b]and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[d] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.18 No one has ever seen God; the only God,[e] who is at the Father's side,[f] he has made him known.

Jesus Christ has come so that we can know God, just know about God or of God, but know God, personally. We can experience his grace, his kindness, his love and his righteousness. This is why Jesus Christ has come. He has come to show us grace and truth. We can only know God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ came into this world to us as the Savior of the world. He lived a perfect life and died a sinner’s death. He died to pay the penalty of the sins of anyone who would trust in Him. Although God gave Jesus over to death, he did not abandon his soul to the grave or let his holy one see decay, but raised him from the dead. His resurrection shows that God was satisfied with his sacrificial death so that anyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ will be saved. We don’t need worldly wisdom, or strength, or earthly riches; what we need is to know the Savior!! Turn from your earthly boasting and know the Savior. Repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know God? Have you experienced the grace of Jesus Christ? If not, I challenge you to make that decision today.

In 1972, Chuck Colson was a man that pursued worldly ambitions. He was wise in the eyes of the world. He was a powerful and influential player in Washington. He was known as Richard Nixon’s “Hatchet Man.” Times magazine called him, “tough, wily, nasty and tenaciously loyal to Richard Nixon.” But his ambition led him to one of the worst presidential scandals of our history, Watergate. He was convicted and sentenced to prison for obstructing justice. But right before he was convicted he experienced a radical conversion to Jesus Christ. Colson says, “Was Christ to change my view of life so drastically? My mind was whirling … Deep down I knew forces were at work which were demanding that I rethink every facet of my life … I could not sidestep the central question (God) had placed squarely before me. Was I to accept without reservation Jesus Christ as Lord of my life?…While I sat alone staring at the sea, words I had not been certain I could understand or say fell naturally from my lips: ‘Lord Jesus, I believe You. I accept You. Please come into my life. I commit it to You.’ With these few words that morning came a sureness of mind that matched the depth of feeling in my heart … I was coming alive to things I’d never seen before; as if God was filling the barren void I’d known for so many months.”[2] After serving in prison, he gave his life to the organization he founded, Prison Fellowship. Prison Fellowship has been the vehicle God used to bring many people to Christ. Before his death, Colson was one of the most well respected leaders in the evangelical church.

But what want you to see is that Chuck Colson came to realize emptiness the world’s values. He did whatever he could to advance his life in the eyes of the world, but it was not until he surrendered to Jesus that he truly found life. 23 This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness justice and righteousness on earth for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.”

---

[1] Just Jesus. South, James. 2012. DeWard Publishing Company. Ohio.

[2] http://www.connectionmagazine.org/archives_old/archives/2000/march/radical_conversions.htm accessed 12.2.12

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Beloved,

Christmas season is upon which means one thing: The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is here. Jesus has given us a mission. We are to go and make disciples of ALL nations. One of the greatest privileges of this life is the opportunity we have to partner with God in making his name great among the nations. We can partner in His mission through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. 100% of the Lottie Moon Offering goes to support missionaries working overseas.

We have a command to make disciples of all nations. I pray that this season we will sacrifice to help others shrouded in darkness experience the light of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The International Mission Board has over 5,000 missionaries throughout the world on assignment to fulfill the Great Commission. Last year alone, IMB workers and their Baptist partners overseas reported a record 506,019 baptisms and 24,650 new churches worldwide. The Harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Right now, they are more laborers ready to go into the field, but there are not enough funds to send them. Our church goal this season is $2,000. I pray we will rise up to help meet the need so the lost can hear and believe the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Let us be part of the making disciples in the nations. This is a great privilege. Let us do our part.

In Christ,

Pastor Dave

How to Persevere in Suffering

“Horatio G. Spafford was a successful Chicago lawyer. He and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio's legal career and business endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords' only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.

Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need the rest -- DL Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer 'Ville de Havre' across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: "Saved alone."

On November 2nd 1873, the 'Ville de Havre' had collided with 'The Lochearn', an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta clinging desperately to her. Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna was only saved from the fate of her daughters by a plank which floated beneath her unconscious body and propped her up.”[1]

Have you ever felt abandoned by God? Have you ever felt utterly alone? Have you ever experienced an intense distance from God? Have you ever cried out to God day and night for relief and heard only silence? Have you ever felt the rejection of those who were supposed to be your closest friends? Have you ever felt hopeless? Have you ever wanted just to give up in the midst of your suffering? Have you felt forsaken by God?

In our fallen world, we are going to experience suffering. Our suffering may be physically. We may hear the awful words of cancer from the doctor. We may have to deal with daily chronic pain. Our suffering may be relationally. We are hurt deeply by those who we love. We may experience the chronic pain of constant belittlement and ridicule. Our suffering may be financial. It may be that after countless applications and interviews, you have not received any call backs and you are struggling to pay all your bils. In our fallen world, we will experience suffering. As a congregation, we have many in our midst that are suffering. You may not be suffering now, but you will one day. So how do you persevere in suffering? Our text this morning gives two principles that I believe our foundational to help us persevere in the midst of extreme suffering. The first principle: Entrust Yourself to God’s Past Faithfulness.

 Entrust Yourself to God’s Past Faithfulness

Look back at verse 1-2, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.” Can you feel the anxiety of his soul? Hear him, “Why have you forsaken me?” Abandoned me, given up on me, and completely deserted me? I cry out to you day and night and you are not answering my prayers. You are far from saving me and far from my words of pain. The pain is severe. The emotional turmoil is crushing. Have you been there? Are you there now?

So in the midst of this extreme anguish, what does the psalmist do? He reminds his soul of the past faithfulness of God; His past faithfulness to others. V.3-5, “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.” The psalmist was comforted in his affliction by God’s faithfulness to his forefathers. They cried out to God and were saved. They trusted and were delivered. They trusted and were not disappointed. This should be an encouragement to us. There have been others before us that have walked through the same pain we are feeling and have been delivered by the hand of the Lord Almighty.

We struggle more when we isolate ourselves from others. We struggle when we believe that no one else can relate to our struggle and pain. But know this, there have been others who have been in extreme suffering who have trusted in God and were not disappointed. One of the challenges of suffering is that its intensity makes us feel that our suffering will never end. But this text should show us that is not the case. Look to the examples of those around us who have persevere through suffering as an encouragement that you will be able to persevere as well. Those of you who have suffered greatly share how God showed you grace in your affliction.

But the affliction is still great. Listen to verse 6-8, “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: “He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him.” So now we see more of direct cause of the suffering. The psalmist is being scorned and despised. He is being mocked and insulted. The mockery and insults are because of his trust and devotion to God. He is calling out to God, but there God is not answering his prayers. He is silent. And the silence of God is only intensified as people are pointing it out. “You trust in God than why won’t he save you? Ha.” This suffering is intense and the soul is in anguish. Can you relate to this? Have you experienced this degree of suffering? What does the psalmist do?

Verse 9, “Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.” The psalmist is not only comforted by God’s past faithfulness to others, but to himself. God has been faithful to you. The psalmist reflects on his own life and how God has been faithful and gracious to him since birth. He says, “from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” The psalmist is strengthened in affliction as he remembers God’s past faithfulness to him. We do not only have to look at others, but we can look back at our own lives in how God has been faithful to us. CH Spurgeon says, “We receive, perhaps, ten times as many mercies which escape our notice as those which we observe.” Make it a practice to observe how the Lord has been merciful to you. I see this often when I talk with you. There are many hospital and home visits in which I hear a common refrain, “The Lord has blessed us. He has been so good to us.” So when I walk in to see a suffering Winnie McKee, or a suffering Dot and Carroll Greene, what I hear is about the faithfulness of God. God has been faithful you. God has shown you his grace in past. Entrust yourself to him. He has been faithful and he will be faithful.

The psalmist continues to share his suffering, look at verse 12, “Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of the death. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones, people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

We persevere in our suffering by entrusting ourselves to God’s past faithfulness as demonstrated in others and in our own lives, but primarily the number one way we can persevere in our suffering is to entrust ourselves to God’s past faithfulness in Jesus Christ. I am sure that there have been many verses in this psalm that have sounded familiar. They sound familiar because they are familiar. This psalm is a prophetic psalm speaking about the innocent suffering of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. The psalm opens with, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” and those are the same words that Jesus said on the cross. In Matthew 27:46, “46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Now in those days when they wanted to reference scripture they did not use chapter and verse like we do today, but rather quoted the first line of the chapter. In quoting the first line of the chapter is Jesus’ way in bringing the whole psalm to mine. He wanted to show how his crucifixion was prophesied in Psalm 22.

Psalm 22:6-8

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 “He trusts in the Lord;
let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”

Matthew 27:39-43

39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself!Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”



Psalm 22:14

“I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.”

Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced[c] my hands and my feet;

Crucifixion disfigured the body as if all the bones were out of joint. The common practice during the crucifixion was the piercing the hands and feet to a tree. The amazing thing is that David spoke in detail about the crucifixion 1000 years before the crucifixion of Christ. Crucifixion was not a common form of execution in the days of David. This had to be a psalm of prophecy pointing us to Christ.

Psalm 22:15

My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me[b] in the dust of death.

John 19:28

28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

Psalm 22:18

They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

Matthew 27:35

35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.[b]



The intense suffering in Psalm 22 is speaking of the intense suffering of the Son of God. He was forsaken by God. God made him who had no sin to be sin[a]for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). He was mocked and insulted. He was beaten and spit upon. He took the punishment that was reserved for sinners like you and me. The greatest suffering the world has ever known was seen on that Cross. And yet the greatest suffering the world has ever known was decided before the foundation of the world. The cross was not an accident, but rather was part of God’s plan from the beginning. Look back at the end of Psalm 22:15, “You lay me in the dust of the earth.” God was the one that was ultimately responsible for the death of the Lord Jesus. Philippians 2:8, “And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!!.” Jesus was obedient to the Father for he lived to do the will of Father. Isaiah 53:3-6,10

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all…Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer.”

So how do you persevere in the midst of your suffering? You entrust yourself to God’s past faithfulness in Jesus Christ. God has laid your iniquity on him. He was punished for your sins. By his wounds you have been healed.

Remember two things beloved: First, no matter what trial you are facing, that trial is not greater than your trial as a sinner against a holy God. The greatest suffering has already been suffered for you. The wrath of God against you has been paid. Secondly, we are not greater than our master. Our Savior was persecuted, insulted, mocked and suffered greatly. When Jesus suffered he entrusted himself to God who judges justly (2 Peter 2:23). We must do the same. We do not have a high priest, who is unable to sympathize with our pain, but was tempted in every way and yet was without sin. Hebrews 12:2-3, “2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Your struggle may be great, but you have one to look to that will help you endure. Fix your eyes on Jesus.

Number 2 -How do you persevere in suffering?

Entrust Yourself to God’s Future Grace

Not only do we look back on God’s Past Faithfulness, we look forward to the future grace we will receive by his hand. V. 19-21 are the hinge of the Psalm. They connect the present suffering with the future grace. “But you, O Lord, be not far off, O my Strength, come quickly to help me. Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouths of lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.” Here we see a prayer of deliverance from our enemies. In this section, we see the same enemies (dogs, lions, oxen) listed earlier in the psalm but in reverse order. I believe, this is the psalmist way of showing the total deliverance from all his enemies. Now, we know that the Lord Jesus was delivered from all his enemies, but he was not delivered prior to death. Our Lord was not delivered from death, but unto death. But he was ultimately delivered over death. Our greatest worldly enemy, death, could not hold the Lord Jesus and therefore it will not be able to hold us.

You need to trust in the future grace given to you IN YOUR OLDER BROTHER. Following the deliverance from all his enemies, listen to the words in verse 22-24,

I will declare you name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help.

Verse 24 helps us see the deliverance that God has given. For he, God, did not despise or disdain the suffering of the afflicted one, the Lord Jesus, he did not hide his face, but listened to his cry for help. And because God delivered the Lord Jesus, Jesus will declare God’s name to His brothers. One pastor shares this story:

“Ryan Chapel writes of two brothers who, one day, decided to play on the sand banks on the edge of the river of his home town. He writes that, because his town depends on the river for commerce, dredges often clear the river’s channels of sand into great mounds on the banks of the river. Nothing is more fun for children than playing on these mountainous sand piles, and few things are more dangerous. While the sand is still wet from the rivers bottom, the dredges dump it on shore and piles of sand dry with rigid crusts that conceal cavernous, internal voids formed by the escaping water. If a child climbs on a mound of sand that has such a void, the external surface easily collapses into the cavern. Sand from higher on the mound then falls into the void trapping the child in a sinkhole of loose sand.

This is exactly what happened to these two boys as they raced up one of the larger mounds.

When the boys did not return home at dinner time, the family and neighbors organized a search…and found the younger brother. Only his head and shoulders protruded from the mound. He was unconscious from the pressure from the sand on his body. The searchers began digging franticly. When they cleared the sand to his waist, he roused to consciousness.

‘Where is your brother?’ The rescuers shouted.

‘I’m standing on his shoulders.’ Replied the child.

With the sacrifice of his own life, the older brother had lifted his younger brother to safety.”[2]

The sacrifice of our older brother has lifted us to safety. Hebrews 2:10-12:

10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12 He says,

“I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”



In Your Satisfaction

You need to entrust yourself to God in your Future Satisfaction. Verse 25-26, “From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him—may your hearts live forever!” I love the imagery that the poor will eat and be satisfied. We are poor now, but we will be satisfied for Jesus will fulfill his vows to those who fear him.

When Ellen and I lived in Washington, D.C. every Thanksgiving we would partner with a large church to serve the poor in the city. The church gave away 20,000 Thanksgiving meal boxes. Each box had a turkey, corn, potatoes, bread, a pie and the gospel of John. We would take the seats out of our minivan and fit as many boxes as we could in the back. Then we would go throughout the city and drop off a Thanksgiving meal to the poor. I can remember seeing the joy on their faces when we gave them their box. Those who were wondering how they were going to provide a meal to their families on Thanksgiving. They ate and were satisfied. The poor will eat and be satisfied. They who seek the Lord will praise Him—may your hearts live forever. Although we are poor, we will eat and we will be satisfied. Trust him.

In Your Worship

You need to ENTRUST YOURSELF to God for Future Grace in your Worship. We are going to suffer in this world, but there is coming a day when we will live in unending worship. Verse 27, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—those who cannot keep themselves alive.” We will be part of the endless throng of people who turn to the Lord and worship him. As Christians, we can entrust ourselves to the future grace that Lord will give us in endless worship. But notice that every knee will bow down before the Lord. We either can do so willingly or we will be forced to bow. There is only one King. Bow before him now and experience satisfaction and salvation, or bow before him later and experience the depth of the suffering described in this psalm. For if by faith Jesus does not suffer for you, you will have to suffer for your sin.

In Your Proclamation

Lastly, Entrust yourself to God for Future Grace in Your Proclamation. I think this is often forgotten when we are in intense periods of suffering. One danger of suffering is that it causes us to become self-centered and focus only on our pain. Pain is very real, but we cannot allow our pain to blind us. In the midst of our pain we must fight for faithfulness. For our pain, may be a spring board for someone else’s faith. Verse 30, “Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn—for he has done it.” Future generations will be told about the Lord and serve him. And those who were told of the Lord will then proclaim his righteousness to their future children. For God has done it. It is easy to turn inward in the midst of pain, but can I encourage you to be part of the “they” in verse 31. Proclaim his righteousness. Proclaim what he has done. Listen to Isaiah 58:9-11:

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.



Here those precious promises. Darkness to Light, Gloom to the Noonday, scorched places to a watered garden.

Conclusion

Well, we end, where we began. How did Horatio and Ann Spafford respond to their extreme suffering? After losing much of their fortune and all of their children, how did they respond? Listen:

“When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford's first reaction was one of complete despair. Then she heard a voice speak to her, "You were spared for a purpose." And she immediately recalled the words of a friend, "It's easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God."

Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father's voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn, It is Well.

The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told "her soul is vexed within her", she still maintains that 'It is well." And Spafford's song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.

It would be very difficult for any of us to predict how we would react under circumstances similar to those experienced by the Spaffords. But we do know that the God who sustained them would also be with us.

No matter what circumstances overtake us may we be able to say with Horatio Spafford...

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul!

It is well ... with my soul!
It is well, it is well, with my soul.”[3]

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[1] http://www.biblestudycharts.com/A_Daily_Hymn.html accessed on 11/23/12

[2] http://reformnation.blogspot.com/2010/09/on-his-shoulders.html accessed on 11/23/12

[3] http://www.biblestudycharts.com/A_Daily_Hymn.html accessed 11/24/12