Podcasts about though christ

On this episode of Preaching the Text, John Hoyum and Steve Paulson discuss Luke's account of Christ's prayer in Gethsemane. Here we see Christ's obedience to the Father outside of and apart from the law. Though Christ is under the law and its punishment on the cross, the power of his forgiveness comes from the mercy, not the judgment, of God. Show Notes: Support 1517 Podcast Network 1517 Podcasts 1517 on Youtube 1517 Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts 1517 Events Schedule 1517 Academy - Free Theological Education What's New from 1517: Celebrate 2,000 Episodes of Christian History Almanac! 2025 North West Arkansas Regional Conference: Psalms of David (4/25-4/26) The Impossible Prize: A Theology of Addiction by Donavan Riley Ditching the Checklist by Mark Mattes Broken Bonds: A Novel of the Reformation, Book 1 of 2 by Amy Mantravadi More from the hosts: John Hoyum Steven Paulson  

In this sermon, Pastor Kevin looks at In Luke 2:1-7. Here we see God's providence displayed as He orchestrates a Roman decree to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, fulfilling the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in David's city. Though Christ is the long-awaited King, His birth is marked by profound humility, as He enters the world not in a palace but in a lowly manger. This contrast highlights God's sovereign plan, exalting the lowly and using the ordinary to accomplish His redemptive purposes.

The Christian life is often seen as one where believers coast carelessly in Christ's finished work, secure in their righteousness through Him being completely indifferent to morality. However, the gospel calls for a responsive life, marked by tenderness and sensitivity to Christ's leading, driven by new desires as the Holy Spirit works in Christ's servants. Though Christ's sovereignty assures us that He will take care of our needs, the gospel challenges us not to be passive, but to actively serve Him as living sacrifices while awaiting His return. We are called to live in light of the kingdom, anticipating the fullness of Christ's blessings when He comes again, while diligently serving in the present. This includes staying vigilant and prepared, like the servants waiting for their master's return, with lamps burning and hearts ready to welcome Him.Christ's parables exhort us that we live consciously in light of Christ's provision, not relying on earthly storehouses but trusting in God's care. Jesus instructs His followers to be prepared, living as if His return could come at any moment. The parables of the faithful and wise servant highlight the importance of serving diligently, even in the master's absence, and being alert to His return. The kingdom's radical nature is revealed when the master, instead of merely commanding service, invites the servants to dine with Him and even serves them. This reversal of roles underscores the sacrificial love of Christ and the grace extended to His people, who are called to wait with readiness, faithfulness, and joy rather than complacency.The kingdom challenge calls for believers to live with an awareness of Christ's return, not to take His delay as an excuse for complacency or indulgence. Jesus warns that those who fail to live faithfully, abusing their position, will face judgment. The severity of this judgment varies, depending on the knowledge and responsibility each servant has been given. While the passage warns against neglecting the master's commands, it also encourages a life lived before the Lord's face (Coram Deo), seeking to glorify Him (Solo Deo Gloria) in all things. Christians are reminded that their actions matter and that God holds them accountable. Still, they are also empowered by Christ's finished work and the Holy Spirit to live with wisdom, humility, and reliance on God's guidance. Ultimately, we are called to live in light of our physical reunion with our savior while we walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Title: The Son From Heaven Speaker: Dr. H. T. Spence Event: Sunday Morning Sermon Date: December 22, 2024 Summary: A prophetic journey is taken concerning the coming of the Son of God. Though a “child” was born, a “Son” was given. Though Christ did not speak any word or perform an miracle as a baby, He was was fully God even as a baby. Scripture: Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6–7; Isaiah 53:1–2; Hosea 11:1; Psalm 2:7; Hebrews 1:4–6 Length:

The Great Myth of the Sun GodsBy Alvin Boyd KhunIt may be that many of you have come to this lecture with the expectation of hearing about the superstitious beliefs of some ancient fire-worshippers or sun-worshippers. You may wonder why we should presume to waste an evening dilating upon the childish fancies of early peoples who could conceive of no more exalted form of deity in the universe than the physical body of our sun. Can there possibly be anything important in the study of such forms of crude fetishism?Let me disabuse your minds of any such prepossession at once. We have not invited you to hear of infantile nonsense of early child-humanity. On the contrary, it is our opinion that there is not a theme within the entire range of religious interest of such sublimity and authentic grandeur as this subject of the Sun-gods. We have come to the persuasion that this is the most important lecture that we have given or shall ever give. In it there is to be found the central thesis of all religion. We have asked you to hear an exposition of the cardinal principle of all true religion. Instead of dealing with an erratic notion of primitive barbarism, we have to present to you this evening the long-lost supreme datum of all high religion. And it is our design to show that religion in the world has drifted so far away from its original base that it no longer recognizes the very first and fundamental conception about which it was in the beginning constructed. The myth of the Sun-gods is the very heart's core of religion at its best.It is commonly supposed that religious honors were paid to the sun as a deity by a few isolated peoples or sects, such as the Parsees and the ancient Ghebers of Persia, and some African tribes. In correction of this view we are prepared to support the declaration that the worship of the Sun-god was quite universal in the ancient world. It ranged from China and India to Yucatan and Peru. The Emperor and the Mikado, as well as the Incas, and the Pharaohs were Sun-god figures. And is the belief only an empty myth? So far from being such, it is at once the highest embodiment of religious conception in the spiritual history of the race.Since the word "myth" occurs in the title, it is necessary to define it so that we may the better glimpse the nature of the subject. To the modern mind the word carries with it a derogatory implication. To reduce any construction to the status of a myth is to put it out of court and render it valueless. We regard a myth as a fiction and a falsity. To show that a theory or a belief is only a myth, is to relegate it to the world of non-reality, and dismiss it from further consideration as a thing of value.Not so with the ancients. With them (the ancients) a myth was a valuable instrumentality of knowledge. It was an intellectual, even a spiritual, tool, by the aid of which truth and wisdom could at one and the same time both be concealed from the unworthy and expressed for the worthy. The ancients rightly regarded spiritual truth and experience as being incapable of expression or impartation by means of words simply. A myth or an allegory could be made the better means of conveying subtly and with a certain added force, the truth veiled under a set form of dramatic presentation. The myth would enhance spiritual truth as a drama reinforces moral situations. It was all the more powerful in its message precisely because it was known not to be outwardly a true story. No one was caught by the literal falsity of the construction. Attention could therefore be given wholly to the hidden import, which was not obscured by the outward occurrence. The myth was known to be a fiction; therefore it deceived nobody--until the third century. But at the same time it was most ingeniously designed to instruct in the deepest of spiritual truths. It was a literary device to embalm lofty wisdom in the amber of a tradition that could be easily remembered, in the guise of a human story. It was truth incarnated in a dramatic occurrence, which was known to be untrue. Outwardly fictitious, but inwardly the substance of a mighty truth, was the myth. And as such it was the universal dress in which ancient knowledge was clothed.To indicate the universality of the Sun-god myth it is only necessary to enumerate some thirty of the chief figures known as Sun-gods amongst the nations about the Eastern Mediterranean, before the advent of Jesus. There were in Egypt, Osiris, Horus, Serapis, Hermes or Taht (Thoth), Khunsu, Atum (Aten, Adon, the Adonis or Phrygia), Iusa, Iu-sa, Iu-em-hetep; in Syria, Atis, Sabazius, Zagreus, Kybele (femine); in Assyria Tammuz; in Babylonia, Marduk and Sargon; in Persia, Mithra, Ahura-Mazda and the Zoroasters; in Greece, Orpheus, Bacchus (Dionysus), Achilles, Hercules, Theseus, Perseus, Jason, Prometheus; in India, Vyasa, Krishna, Buddha; in Tibet the Boddhisattvas; besides many others elsewhere.Likewise in the ancient Mystery dramas the central character was ever the Sun-god the role being enacted by the candidate for initiation in person. He went through the several initiations as himself the type and representative of the solar divinity in the field of human experience.Moreover, the Patriarchs, Prophets, Priests and Kings of Biblical lore are no less Sun-god figures. For in their several characteristics they are seen to be typical of the Christos.From the study of a mass of the ancient material the sincere and disingenuous student becomes ere long convinced of the fact that the Jesus figure of the Gospels, whether he lived historically or not (and there is much question of it even among theologians), is just another in the long list of the solar gods. They were figured by ancient poetic genius as embodiments of divine solar glory living among men, if they were not purely the mythical constructions of the allegorists.These Sun-god characters, of none of whom can it be said positively that they were living personages, were, it must be clearly noted, purely typical figures in the national epics of the several nations. They were symbols, one might say. But of what were they symbolical? That is the point of central importance. They were representative characters, summing and epitomizing in themselves the spiritual history of the human individual in his march across the field of evolving life on earth. They were the types and models of the divine potentiality pictured as coming to realization in their careers. They were the mirror held up to men, in which could be seen the possibilities locked up in man's own nature. They were type-figures, delineating the divine life that was an ever-possible realization for any devoted man. They were the symbols of an ever-coming deity, a deity that came not once historically in Judea, but that came to ever-fuller expression and liberation in the inner heart of every son of man. The solar deities were the gods that ever came, that were described as coming not once upon a time, but continuously and regularly. Their radiant divinity might be consummated by any earnest person at any time or achieved piecemeal.They were typed as ever-coming or coming regularly because they were symboled by the sun in its annual course around the zodiac of twelve signs, and the regular periodicity of this natural symbol typified the ever-continuing character of their spiritual sunlight. The ancients, in a way and to a degree almost incomprehensible to the unstudied modern, had made of the sun's annual course round the heavens a faithful reproduction of the spiritual history of the divine spirit in man. The god in us was emblemed by the sun in its course, and the sun's varied experiences, as fabulously construed, were a reflection of our own incarnational history. The sun in its movements through the signs was made the mirror of our life in spirit. To follow the yearly round of the zodiac was to epitomize graphically the whole history of human experience. Thus the inner meaning of our mortal life was endlessly repeated in the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly cycle of the sun's passage, the seven or twelve divisions of which marked the seven- or twelvefold segmentation of our spiritual history or our initiations. (They were figured at first as seven, later as twelve, when the solar gods came upon the cosmic scene.)The careers of these solar gods, then, were a type of what is occurring to every man who is dowered with the spark of divine soul within his breast. Each one of us has had or will have his festival of conception in June, his birth into the world of fleshly life in the autumn, his spiritual awakening at Christmas, and his glorious resurrection from the dead body of this life at Easter.The Christians say the Christos came once in a single character in history, Jesus of Judea, saying nothing about his coming to Everyman at all times. They present to the world the Only-Begotten Son of the Father, confusing in one historical figure two distinct characters of ancient philosophy, the Logos and the Christos, and making both historical in a human being born of woman. Suffice it to say that neither character was historical in the ancient systems. The Logos and the Christos were cosmic forces, and the erring Christians confounded these "personages" of ancient philosophy with the mundane career of the man Jesus, who was not other than one of the mythical Sun-god heroes, or national type-figures. What a travesty of truth the Christian representation has become! What a caricature the Gospels have made of the divine spiritual principle in man's life!The ancients had no "only-begotten" son because the term used in their systems, miserably mistranslated "only-begotten," was something with quite a different connotation. It was in Greek "monogenes," and in Latin "unigenitus," and was far from meaning "only-begotten." It meant that which was begotten of one parent, the father, alone, not the offspring of the union of father and mother. By the term the ancients meant to designate him who was the projection into matter of the spirit forces of life, not the final product of the union of spirit and matter, or the male and female elements. Had the early Christian Fathers known of the inner meaning of the symbolism of the Egyptian Ptah, as Khepr-Ra, who was typed by the male beetle that incubated in the ground and without union with the female transformed and regenerated himself after twenty-eight days (exactly a moon cycle) in the form of the young scarab, symbol of the new-born sun in the moon, they would have been intelligent enough to have avoided the great schisms that divided the Church into Roman and Greek Catholic bodies over the abstrusities of this very origin of the persons of the Trinity. But Egypt was farther away from Rome of the third century than it is from us, who can now read the inscriptions that were sealed from them.All this ancient scriptural data accentuates the fact that not the historical Jesus, but the spiritual Christ, or the god within the individual heart (as expounded in the lecture on Platonic Philosophy in the Bible) is the subject of the sacred writings of old, and the kernel of the whole religious ideology. Angelus Silesius has expressed this in a stanza which should be a perpetual reminder of the futility of clinging to the historical interpretation of Gospel literature.Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born, But not within thyself, thy soul will be forlorn; The cross on Golgotha thou lookest to in vain, Unless within thyself it be set up again. And the Christian hymn, "O Jesus, thou art standing, outside the fast-closed door," gives expression to the kindred idea that while we look across the map to localize the Christos in Judea, we keep the spiritual mentor of our own lives standing without, seeking an entrance into our lives in vain.By the aid of archaic sacred books we have been enabled to trace authentically the origin of the name Jesus. And it is of great importance to present this material, because it throws a flood of clear light upon the ancient conceptions of the Messiah and the coming Son, or Sun-god. In this light the name will be seen to be a type-designation and not the personal name of an historical being.It is derived from the two letters (or numbers) which in the beginning of typology symbolized the two first elements, spirit and matter, into which the primal One Life bifurcated. They are the I (or 1) symboling the male or spirit, and the O (letter) or 0 (cipher) symboling the female or material universe. Together they represented the biune male-female deity. We have, then, the letters IO, or the number 10. As the vowels were freely interchanged, in ancient languages, the name was written either IO, IA, IE , or IU, and all these forms are found. Next the I transformed into consonantal value and became a J (as it is yet in Latin), so that we find the names JO, JA, JE and JU, from each of which many names have arisen. When the creation had combined the male and female and the two had given birth to the Son, or Logoic universe, the name was given the form of three letters, and we then find such forms as IAO, JAH, IEO, JEU, ZUE. When the universe became founded on the four cardinal points or the square of four dimensions, the name was spelled variously as IEOU, JOVE, ZEUS, JEVE, DIOS, T/HEOS, HUHI, IHUH and others. In its character as a sevenfold or seven-lettered name, it took the form of JEHOVAH, SABAOTH, DEBORAH, DELILAH, SEP/HIROT/H, MICHAEL, SOLOMON, and others of seven letters. The I permuted with l (el) or 1 (one), so that IE became LE or, inverted EL, the great Hebrew character of deity. The EL and the IAH (JAH), became the most frequent determinatives of divinity, as a host of names will testify. There are Bethel, Emanuel, Michael, Israel, Gabriel, Samuel, Abdiel, Uriel, Muriel Azazel, and many others, in which the EL is prefixed. The JAH is seen in such names as EliJAH, AbiJAH, while the IAH comes in a host of such names as Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Obediah, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Messiah, Alleluiah and more.But whence comes the "s" in Jesus's name? This is of great importance. It is derived from an Egyptian suffix written either SA, SE, SI, SU, or SAF, SEF, SIF or SUF (SAPH, SEPH, SIPH or SUPH) and meaning "the son," "heir," "prince" or successor to the father. (The F is an Egyptian ending for the masculine singular.) When the original symbol of divinity, IO or IE, JO or JE, was combined with the Egyptian suffix for the succeeding heir, SU or SA, the resultant was the name IUSA, IUSE, IUSU, or IOSE; or IESU, JESU, IUSEF, IOSEF, JOSEF. One of the many forms was JESU and another was JOSEF. The final F became sibilant at times and gave us the eventual form of JESUS. The name then meant the "divine son," and combined in the Egyptian IU the idea of the coming one. Hence JESUS was the Messiah, the coming son of the divine life. There was in Egypt for ten thousand years B.C. the character of this functionary under the name of IUSA. Later he was the Iu-em-hetep, which means "the divine son who comes with peace (hetep). But most interestingly, this last word also means seven. Hence Jesus is he who comes as the seventh principle to complete the six elementary powers of natural evolution with the gift of divine intelligence, which supplants the elementary chaos with the rulership of love and intelligence and thus brings peace into a warring situation. Hence finally, Jesus is the seventh cosmic principle, announced in all religious lore as he who comes to bring peace and good will to men. And as such he was announced in the Christian Gospels. But there was more than one Jesus or IUSA or IU before the coming of the alleged historical Jesus.Startling as are the implications of this bit of etymology, a far more amazing denouement of Bible study is the revelation that not only were there over thirty Sun-god figures in the cults of the various nations of old, but there are immediately in the Bible itself, in the Old Testament, some twenty more Sun-god characters under the very name of Jesus! Are we speaking arrant nonsense or sober truth when we make a claim which seems at first sight so unsupportable? Twenty Jesus characters in the Old Testament! Let us see. We have noted the many variant forms of the Jesus name. There are still others in the Old Testament, never suspected as being related to the name of the Christian Redeemer. There are Isaac, Esau, Jesse, Jacob, Jeshu, Joachim, Joshua, Jonah and others. All these are variant forms of the one name, which has still other forms among the Hebrews in secular life, Yusuf, Yehoshua, Yeshu, etc. Joshua, Hosea and Jesse are from this name indisputably. A few might be the subject of controversy.Furthermore, beside these that bear the original divine name, there are other Sun-god figures in the Old Testament under a wide variety of names. They are Samson (whose name means "solar"), David, Solomon, Saul (equals soul, or sol, the sun--Latin.), Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Jephtha and the like. Their actions identify them as solar representatives.Now let us see what the conception of our divinity as a Sun-god in reality meant to the sages of old, and what it should mean to us. It meant that the divinity within us, our divine soul or Self, was itself the Sun-god, or solar deity. And what does this signify in concrete terms for us? Just this; that the god within us is constituted of the imperishable essence of solar light and energy! In short, we ourselves, in our higher nature, are solar gods in potentiality! Our highest nature is an incorruptible body composed of the glorious essence of the sun's energy! The gods in the Bible were always symboled by the light or fire of the sun. We are now enlightened to see it as a description of our nature as veritable truth and fact. We are Sun-gods. Our immortal spirits within us are composed of the radiant substance of solar energy.At the very time we were first assembling the material for this lecture, there came an announcement in the daily press of a discovery by a modern physicist, Dr. George W. Crile, of the Cleveland Laboratories, which practically fixed the seal of truth upon every word we have uttered or shall utter in this lecture. It was most startlingly corroborative of our exegesis. He announced that he had discovered at the heart of every living organism a tiny nucleus of energy, all aglow, with temperatures ranging from 3000 to 6000 degrees of heat, which he called "radiogens" or "hot points." These, he said, were precisely akin to the radiant energy of solar matter. He affirmed, in short, that a tiny particle of the sun's power and radiance was lodged within the heart of every organic unit! The light and energy that has life. What would be Crile's surprise, however, if he were to be shown a sentence taken from Hargrave Jennings' old book on the Rosicrucians, written over sixty years ago: "Every man has a little spark (sun) in his own bosom?" For this was one item in the teaching of the Medieval Fire-Philosophers, and the reason they were styled such. They knew what Crile has discovered, as likewise did the ancient Bible-writers. They based their Sun-god religions upon it. Our souls are composed of the imperishable essence of solar light! We are immortal because we are Sun-gods.But many will impatiently rise to expostulate with us, and ask why, if this was the universal fundamentum of the old religions, the Bible itself does not categorically carry this message and state this central fact. Wait a moment! Who that knows this primary datum has searched the Bible to see if it has nothing to say on the point? We, too, believed the Bible was remiss in expressing this conception, until we searched with a more watchful eye. And now let us hear what the Bible says as to our solar constitution, and determine for ourselves whether it is silent on the groundwork of religion or not. Let us hear first the Psalms. "Our God is a living fire," say they; and "Our God is a consuming fire." "The Lord God is a sun," avers the same book. "I am come to send fire on earth," says Jesus, meaning he came to scatter the separated sparks of solar essence amongst mankind, a spark to each soul. In Revelation the angels scatter the fire and the incense of their seven censers over the earth, among the inhabitants. Then says John the Baptist: "I indeed baptize you with water, but he that cometh after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!" Jesus says: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." (Satan was the descending Lucifer, or Light-bringer, before he was lifted up and divinized.) The fire that falls on Jeremiah's altar and many another in the Bible narrative types the deity coming to dwell with mortals. Says Jesus: "When I am in the world I am the light of the world." Again he said: "Ye are the light of the world," and "Let your light so shine that others may . . . glory your father which is in heaven." The Lord, say the Psalms, "made his angels messengers and his ministers a flame of fire." The New Testament Jesus, following the well-known Egyptian diagram of the Ankh, the solar disk with the spread wings, is described as "the sun of righteousness, risen with healing in his wings." John has Jesus saying that the condemnation of the world lay in that it rejected the light when it was sent into the world. Says Job: "Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle and his candle shall be put out with him." Isaiah writes: "Behold all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks that ye have kindled." We are adjured to "Rise, shine, for thy light is come." "The Lord is my light," reiterates the Psalms. And again: "In thy light shall we see light." "Light is sown for the righteous." "We wait for light," cry the souls in the darkness of incarnation, far from their original fount of light. John declares that the Christos "was the true light" which was to come Messianically for the redemption of our lower nature. And again he declares that with the Christos "light is come into the world." No cry echoes with more resounding intensity down to this age than Paul's exhortation to our souls buried in lethal darkness: "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon thee!" And in Revelation there are those mighty pronouncements: in the spiritual resurrection "there shall be no more need of the sun to shine by day nor the moon by night, for the glory of the Lord did lighten it." And there is no more heartening assurance anywhere in the Bible than Jesus's statement: "Ye have light in yourselves."And these are only a gleaning from the great score of similar passages with which the Bible teems. And still folks will say they find no warrant for the Sun-god idea in the Bible!In Rome the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta was guarded by seven Vestal Virgins, chosen for purity and for psychic vision. If they permitted the fire to die out (symbolic of the light of deity dying out in the heart) the penalty upon them was death. If they violated their sexual purity, they were buried alive in the city. And from the great old Egyptian Book of the Dead we take just one passage among scores: "Lo, I come from the Lake of Flame, from the Lake of Fire, and from the field of flame, and I live." And again, from an old Book of Adam and Eve we quote a great passage in which the Lord says: "I made thee of the light, and I wished to bring out children of the light from thee." If only we had been taught by our religious teachers that our spiritual natures are woven and fabricated of solar light, we should have had a clearer apprehension of our potentialities for divine education.Supplementing all this material from the Bible and ancient scriptures, there is at hand for our supreme enlightenment one grand pronouncement from Greek Platonic philosophy which we conceive to be that lost ultimate link between science and religion. It is the truth before whose altar both science and religion can kneel at last and find themselves paying tribute to the same god,--the god of solar radiance. It is a sentence from the learned Proclus, last of the Great Platonists: "The light of the sun is the pure energy of intellect." Are we big enough to catch the mighty significance of that statement? Is it not the essence of what the modern physicist means when he talks of "mind-stuff?" The fiery radiance of the sun is already the motivating genius of intellect! Matter is itself intelligent and intelligence! Here is the basic link between all naturalism and all spirituality. Matter enshrouds and contains the soul of mind and spirit. The light of the sun is the deific flash of intellect! And the very core of our conscious being is a spark of that infinite indestructible energy of solar light. There is the "seminal soul of light" or the seed of fiery divinity (Prometheus's "fire" stolen from the gods) in each of us. It makes us a god.Armed with this unquenchable fire which is intellect, we are sent on earth to inhabit a body which is described as a watery and miry swamp. The body is nearly eighty per cent. water! It is the duty of the fiery spark to enlighten the whole dark realm of mortal life, to transmute by its alchemical power the baser dross of animal propensity into the finer motivation of love and brotherhood. This life is a purgation--Purgatory--because it is a process of burning and tempering crude animal elements into the pure gold of spiritual light. In Egyptian scriptures the twelve sons of Ra (the twelve sons of Jacob, and the twelve tribes of Israel) were called the "twelve saviors of the treasure of light." An Egyptian text reads: "This is the sun within us, the seminal source of light. Do not dim its luster or cause it to suffer eclipse." And another runs: "Give ye glory as to the sun; he is the chief, the only one coming from the body, the head of those who belong to the race of the sun."With this force of fire we must uplift the lower man and transmute his nature into the spiritual glow of love and intelligence. With it we must turn the water of the lower nature into the wine of spiritual force. Around it we must aggregate the refined material which we shall build into that temple of the soul, that body of the resurrection, the great garment of solar light, in which we shall rise out of the tomb of the physical corpus and ascend with the angels. This is the radiant Augoeides of the Greeks, the Sahu of the Egyptians, in which the soul wings its flight aloft like the phoenix, after rending the veil of the temple of the body. It is our garment of immortality, the seamless robe of glory, in prospect of which we groan and travail, says St. Paul, as we earnestly desire to be clothed upon with the garment of incorruption. As flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of heaven, we must fashion for our tenancy there this body of solar glory, in whose self-generated light we may live eternally, having overcome the realms of darkness, or spiritualized the body. Jesus prays the Father to grant unto him that glory that he had with him before the world was, and his prayer is fulfilled in the formation of the spirit body out of the elements of the sun.Who is this King of Glory?--says the Psalmist. And we are exhorted to lift up the aeonial gates, the age-lasting doors, to let the King of Glory enter into our realm. The King of Glory is the Sun-soul within us, raised in his final perfection in the fulness of Christly stature to the state of magnificent effulgence. The King of Glory is the immortal Sun-god, the deity in our hearts; and when at last he blazes forth in the heyday of his glory, and comes in majesty into our lives, then we behold his glory, as of the alone-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And when he appears to those still sitting in the shadow of darkness, they report that "they have seen a great light, and to those that sat in the valley of darkness did the light shine." And this light, seen ever and anon by some illuminated son of man, as he gropes in the murks of incarnation, is truly "that light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world."And when that light shineth clearer and brighter unto the perfect day, then, indeed, we know of a surety that we ourselves are nucleated of that same glorious essence of combined intellect and spirit. Then we know that we ourselves are the Sun-gods, and that the ancient allegory is not a "myth," but the very essence of our own Selfhood.The Great Myth of the Sun GodsBy Alvin Boyd Khunhttp://mountainman.com.au/ab_kuhn.html This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dwtruthwarrior.substack.com/subscribe

Title: The Enemies of God Text: Acts 16:16-25 FCF: We often struggle against forces arrayed against us and our Lord. Prop: Because many forces are arrayed against our Lord building His church, we must trust and worship Him who fits us for spiritual warfare. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts 16. In a moment we'll read from the Legacy Standard Bible starting in verse 16. You can follow along in the pew bible or in the version you prefer. Last week the 4-man mission team arrived in the city of Philippi and began their ministry to the Jews by going to the river to speak to a group of Jewish women. There was no synagogue in Philippi meaning that the Jewish population was fairly small. We'll get an indication of why that may be today. In the process of speaking to these women one woman came to Christ because the Lord opened her heart to respond in faith. The primary teachings we have seen from this first missionary journey is the Lord's control over the missionaries, the mission, and even the building of His church. But today we will see more opposition to His Kingdom. Let's seen how the mission team handles it. Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: Father, You are maker of heaven and earth. All else in existence is created besides You. Though there are great powers and forces, heavenly bodies, animals, plants, spiritual and physical beings, they are, all of them, unlike You. You alone are uncreated. You alone are high and lofty. Because of this we rely on You for everything. And though much of Your creation has rebelled against You. We know that You are utterly and completely in control of all that You have made. May we learn from You – the Giver of Life – that we may grow and flourish in You. Be with us today we pray this in Jesus name, Amen. Transition: Let's get right to the text again this week. There is a good deal for us to uncover here. I.) There are many forces arrayed against the Lord building His church, we must trust the Lord for spiritual armor to stand against the enemy. (16-18) a. [Slide 2] 16 - Now it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a servant-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. i. The missionary team stayed in Philippi in Lydia's home for many days. In that time, they traveled around the city but also frequented the place of prayer where the Jews met. ii. Again, the gospel to the Jews first is Paul's passion. iii. And so, on one of those trips, sometime after the event with Lydia, this occurs. iv. But what is going on here? v. We have a servant girl with what Luke calls a “spirit of divination.” What is that? 1. While the word here has links to the Delphi oracles and speaking on behalf of the gods, by the time of Roman imperialism this word was used primarily the way we would use the word ventriloquist. 2. Fast forward to the time Luke uses this expression here in Acts, the term would be the same but rather than emphasizing the human agent he is emphasizing the demonic agent. 3. Although we are accustomed to considering all fortune tellers, soothsayers, and star readers to be con artists who merely want to make a buck off the gullible – I would caution us against such generalities. 4. There are forces in this world, spiritual forces, that have power and abilities that exceed our own. 5. We know that Satan is the prince of the power of the air. We know that there are principalities and powers that by God's permission, govern this dark and perishing world. Though their dominion is being overtaken by the kingdom of God. 6. We know that there are still unclean spirits and demons roaming the world. 7. Now certainly some people, even at this time, were pretending to be soothsayers and fortune tellers but were fakes. 8. But that does not mean that all were this way. And that goes for today too. 9. The bible does not speak of these things as if they are fake, falsified, or bunkum. 10. Instead, the bible warns not to participate in them because they are real and not of God. 11. This young slave girl was a slave not just of humans but of an unclean spirit as well. 12. She was possessed by this spirit. vi. Because she was possessed by this spirit, and did have some sort of power or clairvoyance to the unseen world, she was able to conduct a booming business for those who desired a good word for themselves or insight for their coming days. 1. The spirit spoke in her and through her to convey snippets of truth couched in vague generalities and gathered from careful attention and insight into the human condition. 2. These spirits are not all knowing or all powerful. They merely are able to see more than humans and humans are also easily impressed, especially when the promise of money, power, and fame come with it. vii. So, we've been introduced to this cash cow of a fortune teller, but what is she doing? b. [Slide 3] 17 - Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” i. Here we see the activity of this spirit possessed woman. ii. She is following the missionaries around and crying out – probably yelling as loud as her vocal cords could, probably even louder than they were physically capable being amplified by the spirit's power. We also should consider the possibility of her shouting without her lips moving, since this ventriloquist meaning of the word had not completely disappeared. The shouting could have been coming from her belly. iii. And what is she shouting? iv. At first glance this appears to be truth. v. This wouldn't be the first time we see demons speak truth. vi. In fact, in each case that Jesus casts out demons, invariably they speak truth to Him. They address Him as the Son of the Most High. They beg Him not to judge them. vii. So, what is Paul to do with the free publicity? c. [Slide 4] 18 - And she continued doing this for many days. But being greatly annoyed, Paul turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to leave her!” And it left at that very moment. i. Ok so what just happened? Why was Paul so annoyed? ii. I mean she did this for many days… sure… but isn't she helping his cause? iii. Ironically, Paul in a future letter to these Philippians rejoices over the gospel of Christ being preached… even when it is preached by people who do so for selfish gain. iv. So, what is the big deal? Why is Paul annoyed? v. [Slide 5] Well, the answer to this question hinges on whether or not what the demon speaks is truth or is intentionally misleading. 1. Let's assume what most scholars assume. That although the demon's confession appears to be truthful, it is in fact, quite misleading. What do I mean and how would that cause Paul to be annoyed? a. We already noted that the vast majority of the people in Philippi are Gentiles. b. We recognize the phrase “Most High God” and frequently put that in the context of our Old Testament usage of the same words. i. However, to the predominantly gentile audience, such an expression could just as easily be applied to Zeus or Jupiter. ii. In fact, at the time of these events, such phrases were already in use and ascribed to Zeus the status of the highest of the gods. c. Secondly, her saying that the missionaries proclaimed the way of salvation could be misleading in a couple ways. i. First, the pagan concept of salvation would be ambiguous at best. It might describe success, or rescue from trouble or difficulty. ii. Secondly, the phrase here does not have a definite article in Greek. So, although it could be translated “they proclaim to you THE way of salvation.” It could just as easily be translated “they proclaim to you a way of salvation.” d. [Slide 6] Thus, the reason that Paul became so annoyed and distraught was because the demon was muddying the waters and making it seem like the missionaries were advocating syncretistic blend of paganism and Christianity instead of the abandonment of pagan gods to worship God through Christ Jesus. 2. [Slide 7] There are, however, some reasons to doubt what most scholars conclude. Let me point those out. a. Although it is true that gentiles would not associate the phrase “The Most High God” with Yahweh, we see that Luke has specified that this was happening while they were going to the place of prayer. A place where the Jews would gather. b. Now Luke only points this out once and it is possible that she stops them before they get there or meets them over the course of the next several days in other places around the city – but for now the only location we have been given is the place of prayer. c. This suggests that the audience, being Jewish, would probably understand the phrase “Most High God” to be Yahweh. d. And what she says about the way of salvation is also affected by a primarily Jewish audience. For they would have understood, at least in part, the idea that salvation has to do with God's deliverance into His Kingdom. e. In regard to the other issue with the way of salvation, the whole argument hinges on a translational ambivalence. It could literally be translated either “the way of salvation” or “a way of salvation” and if we take a quick poll of our major English translations – we'll find that the overwhelming majority translate this “The way of salvation” f. Meaning of course that we have to at least entertain the possibility that the demon is speaking pure truth here. 3. [Slide 8] But if the demon is speaking pure truth, and is not misleading, why then does Paul get so irked by it? There are actually several potential reasons. a. First, since this young slave girl was well known around the city as being a fortune teller, it subtly suggests that she and the missionaries occupy a similar position. i. They are both just heralds of truth. Paul can help you with your afterlife… and I can help you with your present life. ii. In essence it communicates that they are both spirit guides. Sure, one is pagan and the other is Christian, but that doesn't matter. iii. We are all on different sides of the same mountain, but we are all going up the mountain to the same god… right? A heresy still alive today. A heresy recently spoken by the Pope. iv. But God will not share glory with any. And Paul doesn't want the message of Christ to be shared by the local diviner as if they are on the same team. b. Second, by the girl confessing what the demon knows to be true, it gives credibility to any future fortune telling efforts. i. A false prophet telling truth once doesn't make that prophet a legitimate prophet of God. But it may convince some that they are. ii. Paul doesn't want the credibility of this demon possessed girl to continue as she piggy backs on the mission team. So, he casts out the demon in Jesus' name, ending the slave girl's career. c. [Slide 9] Third, it isn't like Paul hasn't had issues in the past with a crowd listening too well to him preaching the gospel. i. This slave girl shouting all this out is drawing a good deal of attention to the mission team. ii. At some point that will draw the ire of those who reject the gospel. And perhaps Paul is not ready to be forced to flee the city just yet. iii. This is unwelcomed publicity. He isn't done preaching the gospel here yet. d. Fourth, and although I can't prove it, I did manage to find one commentator, a church father named Bede, who saw it too. i. It seems to me that we could be seeing a Balaam kind of example here. ii. Perhaps the unclean spirit desired to speak falsehoods and slander Paul and the Mission team, but was not permitted to do so. iii. So, Paul's irritation is knowing that the demon desired to speak ill but was prevented. e. Finally, the work of revealing truth about Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of those who believe on Him is a work of the Holy Spirit. i. Last week we saw how the Lord opened Lydia's heart. We observed that this is what the Scriptures call regeneration. ii. Regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit to prepare the heart of an individual to receive and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ. iii. This unclean spirit's attempt to reveal the nature of Jesus is, in a way, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In that it takes what is clearly the work of the Spirit and attributes it to the work of demons, specifically itself. iv. In effect, the unclean spirit usurps the role of the Holy Spirit here. v. And Paul is distraught over this. Such a spirit deserves to be removed for its blasphemy. vi. Which is the right one? No idea. Maybe all of them. vii. [Slide 10] In any case – Paul is greatly annoyed by this young girl and her unclean spirit. viii. He turns, and in the power, the authority, and for the sake of Jesus the second person of the Godhead – he commands the spirit to come out from her. ix. And the spirit left at that very moment. x. It may shock you to realize that in biblical times exorcisms were common. In fact, the Jews had been practicing them even before Christ's incarnation. xi. But the incantations and rituals surrounding them were long and not always successful. xii. By contrast, the exorcisms we see in the New Testament are frequently instantaneous and not belabored by long drawn-out processes and incantations. The power rests in the authority of Christ and not in the ritual. xiii. And even in the church post Christ's ascension, we see the pattern continue. In Christ's name this spirit flees. xiv. This leaves no shadow of doubt. God is not fighting a war with the kingdom of darkness where they are evenly matched… or even closely matched. xv. Paul, a fallen and sinful creature, just like the unclean spirit, exorcised this demon… by the power of and for the sake of the one who redeemed him. xvi. Only Christ is King and there is no other. d. [Slide 11] Summary of the Point: So, what is the primary point of teaching in this first scene of this narrative episode? What do we learn here? In our previous two weeks we have seen that God is sovereign over the missionaries, the mission and even the building of His church. He is in complete control. But today, we see a counter point that doesn't invalidate that, but merely adds color to that discussion. Although God is in control of building His church, that doesn't mean there will not be opposition. In fact, there are many forces, and some of them quite powerful, that are arrayed against the Lord of Glory as He continues to build His church. What we see here in this text, is that those forces are not equal to or close to equal to Him. He is King… even over the most powerful among them. A command given in His will by His authority, must be followed. The application for us then, is neither to go around rebuking demons, nor is it to ignore them completely. Our task is to put on the full armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. The Lord wants us to engage in battle with His spiritual opponent, but not in our own strength, for our own glory, or for our own temporary gain. Rather in prayerful petitioning for the perseverance of the saints and the proclamation of the gospel we are to hold the line against the enemy being fully protected by the spiritual graces of God. Transition: [Slide 12 (blank)] So spiritual forces are no match for our Lord. They are easily pacified by His power and authority. Are these the only forces that oppose Him? II.) There are many forces arrayed against the Lord building His church, we must worship the Lord in the midst of seeming defeat. (19-25) a. [Slide 13] 19 - But when her masters saw that their hope of profit had left, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, 20 - and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 - and are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” i. Upon realizing that the slave girl no longer had the spirit of divination and could no longer predict the future … they sought retaliate. ii. They grab Paul and Silas and drag them to the authorities of the city. iii. But what are they going to accuse them of? Casting out spirits isn't a crime is it? iv. Let's unpack what they charge them with and try to make some sense of it. v. They accuse them of sowing confusion because they are Jews and promoting customs that are illegal for Roman citizens to observe, because they are Romans. vi. So, what is the confusion and what are these customs? vii. Friends, I think us trying to figure out what customs they were talking about, and what they mean by confusion is a fool's errand. Why? viii. Notice not what they accuse them of – but how. They bring up both the ethnicity of these men… and their own. ix. As we saw last week, the Jews were not prevalent in this city. And the city was a Roman colony. So Roman that most of the inscriptions we have found from this city are in Latin and not in Greek. Which is quite telling. x. Jews had always stuck out as monotheists in a polytheist world. xi. This suggests that an Antisemitic sentiment was alive and well in the city of Philippi. Perhaps this is the real reason they don't have a synagogue in the city. Perhaps this is the real reason that there weren't many Jews in the city of Philippi? xii. Added to their hatred of the Jews, they were also quite proud of being Romans. xiii. They don't specify one charge against them. Instead, the only real accusation is that they are being very UN-Roman and telling them to do the same. xiv. The customs and the confusion charge, I believe, is a red-herring. They know that there isn't really anything they can accuse the mission team of. xv. But they can insight the crowd and the magistrates to violence because of racial tensions that already existed between Jews and Romans in the city of Philippi. xvi. And that is just what they did. They knew what buttons to push to really put the hurt on Paul and Silas. xvii. Incidentally, the fact that only Paul and Silas were drug before the city magistrates is more evidence that this is a racial issue more than a legal one. Timothy was only half Jewish and Luke was a gentile. b. [Slide 14] 22 - And the crowd joined together to attack them, and the chief magistrates, tearing their garments off of them, proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. i. Only Roman citizens were guaranteed a right to a fair trial before being physically harmed. ii. As non-Romans (or so they think) these men are not afforded those guarantees. iii. So, they are beaten with rods for having the audacity to be Jewish and to tell Romans to stop being so Roman. iv. Now we will find out later that Paul and Silas both were Roman citizens. So why didn't they say anything? v. Well, let's wait a couple weeks on that question. c. [Slide 15] 23 - And when they had inflicted them with many wounds, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely, 24 - who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. i. It is obvious that the plan is to release them sometime later. We see this later in the narrative. ii. Basically, what we have here is imprisonment is their sentence to pay for their crime. iii. Because they caused a disturbance, they needed to pay for that with their lives being disturbed. iv. So, the plan was that they would be released the following day – but until then they instruct the jailer to hold them fast. v. So, the jailer puts them in the inner prison, where escape would be almost impossible. And he fastened them to the wall so they could not move. vi. Most likely with wooden or metal brackets and most likely not in a very comfortable position. No doubt with arms and legs splayed against the wall. vii. One doesn't have to wonder why we find them still awake at midnight in the next verse. viii. They were probably in a good deal of pain from their “many wounds” while being pinned to the wall. d. [Slide 16] 25 - But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. i. Such were the hearts of God's missionaries. ii. They prayed and sang to the Lord. iii. They prayed – probably not imprecatory prayers against their persecutors but rather prayers of thanksgiving and songs of praise. iv. Requesting the Lord to be glorified and the gospel to go forth no matter what happens. v. Requesting to be released without further incident. vi. And they did this as the rest of the prisoners in the jail… listened. vii. One of the most powerful things you can do to accompany your presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is to suffer for His name while continuing to praise Him and trust Him. viii. So many in the history of the church have been won by the gospel of Christ and the powerful testimony of those who gladly bear His reproach and share in His wounds. e. [Slide 17] Summary of the Point: Our primary point of teaching endures through this point. There are forces arrayed against the Lord building His church. They are not only spiritual though. As if mankind are merely victims caught in the middle of this spiritual war. No, the greed, bigotry, and selfishness of man actively works against the Lord building His church also. But so far, in this narrative, we have not seen the Lord conquer these wicked men. Now we could peek ahead and see, and I assure you, the Lord will be victorious in more ways than one, but let us not do that. Why? Because Paul and Silas didn't get to look ahead did they. For now, let's stay right there in that inner prison room with Paul and Silas. Let's stay right with them in the midst of their searing wounds. In the midst of their aching joints pinned to a wall. In the midst of their hopeless position. Let's stay right there. Why? So, we can observe what it means to trust the Lord even in the midst of great suffering for His name. Even in the midst of apparent defeat. My friends, we must trust the Lord by worshipping Him in the midst of suffering. This also is part of engaging the enemies of God. Conclusion: So, what have we learned to day CBC, and how then shall we live? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 18] In the last couple weeks, we have seen the Lord's control over building His church. He guides His missionaries. He prepares the mission. He opens hearts to respond. But just because He is in control doesn't mean He is unopposed. Today we see that both spiritual and physical forces are actively arrayed against the Lord. Harmonizing these two points is actually relatively easy. It is obviously within the will of God and part of His plan that these forces oppose Him. Although God does not sin, nor does God tempt men to sin, there are times in the scriptures where God uses the sinfulness of men and the rebellion of the forces of darkness to accomplish His will. Therefore, we should not interpret opposition to the Lord as a sign that He is not in control. Instead, we should interpret opposition to the Lord as a way for Him to receive greater glory. For us, when we experience opposition to the Lord and the building of His church, we must see it as an opportunity to trust Him. On the one hand, we must trust Him, putting on the spiritual armor He provides to us and engaging in spiritual warfare against our true enemy, the spiritual forces of darkness who wrestle against the body of Christ at every turn. With the graces of the Lord, and in the power of His might, we will overcome them. Why? Because Christ has already disarmed them and made a public display of them by triumphing over them to free us from sin and death. (Col 2:15). On the other hand, we may face flesh and blood enemies that seem to gain victory over us. In this passage we see the paradoxical story of Paul gaining victory over a demon by casting him out in Jesus' name but also being himself cast in prison by mere men. If God is able to cast out demons, is He not also able to save Paul from mere men? Well of course He is. That is why Paul and Silas trust the Lord by responding in worship. They pray and sing to Him while suffering for His name. Why? Because if He can triumph over demons, and flesh and blood seem to have the upper hand– we can bet that God's victory is almost at hand. And indeed, it was just so for Paul and Silas and I think even a cursory glance at church history seems to paint the same picture. The moment the world is at the bleakest and the opposition against the Lord is at its height is the moment the Lord does something amazing. So let me outline for us some more practical applications of these truths today. How does this affect our everyday life? 1.) Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that there are forces arrayed against the Lord. a. Now certainly this is not something that I think is difficult to prove to us. b. We know that there are forces actively working against the Lord and His church. c. In this text we see two. We see a demon, which represents the whole realm of darkness and we have bigoted, greedy, prideful humans. d. Let me address each of these specifically. i. The forces of darkness seem to have some measure of organizational structure. 1. The scriptures do not go into detail and although there are many myths, even Jewish myths surrounding these forces, there doesn't seem to be much consensus even among Jews on where these beings came from and how they organize themselves. 2. Still, we can come to a fairly robust understanding that there are intelligent spiritual evil forces aligned against the Lord of glory and at least from a New Testament perspective, they seem to be dominated and led by one particular member known as Satan or the Devil. 3. Paul tells us in Ephesians that if we are going to wrestle against these forces, we must not use physical means of warfare for our enemy is not physical they are spiritual. ii. But a second category of enemies against the Lord exists. And it is wicked humanity. 1. We might balk at this since Paul said in Ephesians that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against spiritual evil. 2. But Paul says this, not to deny that humans are wicked, or to say that they are just innocent victims caught in the middle. He merely says this to instruct Christians how to fight. Namely, not with flesh and blood weapons. 3. But even against flesh and blood enemies, the fight is primarily spiritual. So, our weapons and defenses must be spiritual also. 4. To be sure, wicked and unredeemed humanity are outright enemies of God and seek to destroy and kill God's people. 5. The only difference is that mankind is redeemable and spiritual forces of darkness are not. 6. Paul, after all, was one of these wicked men actively opposing the Lord of glory. And we all know how that worked out for him. iii. These two forces of evil work hand in hand to oppose the Lord. With the forces of darkness tempting, nudging and whispering and wicked men all to happy to pursue their passions. e. The Lord is opposed in His work to build His church and bring His Kingdom to earth in full. f. This is absolutely true. g. But.. 2.) Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that when the forces arrayed against the Lord appear to be winning this proves that God has lost control. a. No matter how bleak it may appear. b. No matter how much it seems like God is losing c. No matter how much wicked men prosper and demonic influence thrives – God is still in absolute control. d. We see this exact thing happen in the Old Testament on repeat. Israel gets destroyed by the nations around them. Where was GOD? Using those nations to judge them… that's where. e. God is always in control. Even when these forces appear to be winning – it is by design so that He can get even more glory for their defeat. f. In their opposition they are unwitting pawns for His glory. g. Because this is true we must respond in a few ways. h. First… 3.) Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must rely on the strength of God's spiritual graces if we hope to stand against the spiritual forces we face. a. Whether we face human beings who are wicked and casting us into prisons or whether we face a legion of the demonic hoard – we cannot afford to fight this battle with human weapons. b. What then are our weapons? What are our defenses? How shall we hold the line? How shall we stand firm? c. They are described to us in the armor of God. Truth, Righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God. d. Notice that all of these are spiritual graces that God has given us. And notice how they all, in some way, tie back to Christ Himself. e. If we are to face the enemies of Christ – we must be protected by the strength of Christ. f. No weapon we fashion – wars, rhetoric, reasoning, politics, legislation, revolution, anger, frustration, shouting, hostile take overs, elections, - LITERALLY all of this cannot be our trusted method to stand against the enemies of God. g. Why? h. Because they work IN those things too. i. We need armor and weapons in which they have no share. And that is Christ. j. What else does God being sovereign over his enemies mean for us? 4.) De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must not be afraid when the schemes or Satan or the wickedness of men seem to prevail. a. My friends, God uses all of this to increase His fame and His glory. b. The more his enemies seem to be winning, the greater their undoing will be and the greater His glory will be when they are finally and forever put down. c. Most of the time when the church faced its darkest days – that is when the Lord did a marvelous work. d. A modern preacher once said, “Persecution has never hurt the church… only prosperity.” e. When our enemies are strong – our God is stronger. And my friends – we in America are ripe for Him to do something… Big. f. Not through an election. Not through a war. Not through diplomacy. Not through policy making. g. But through the outpouring of His grace. h. We have no need to be afraid at a time like today. i. What must we do instead… 5.) Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must worship the Lord and expect Him to deliver us one way or another. a. Paul and Silas sat in pain in that prison cell. b. But they were not without hope. c. Because either they would die there or God would see to it that they were released. d. God would deliver them… one way or another. e. For this, He deserves the highest praises and glory. f. What can man do to us? What can any enemy of God do to us that God does not allow? For His purposes? g. My friends – what a great honor and joy it is to suffer for the name of Christ. h. So do not be troubled. In fact, be encouraged. i. Why? 6.) Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” Only Christ is King and there is no other. a. Though Christ has enemies… they are not His equal. b. Though Christ has enemies… they are not His match. c. Though Christ has enemies… they are no challenge. d. Though Christ has enemies… they pose no danger. e. Indeed, the work of Christ has already disarmed them. He gathers His church and they are only able to cede ground to the church. f. My friends, there is no King but Christ. g. May this be our motto. Our hope. Our Strength. h. In times of abundance and in times of famine – there is no King but Christ. i. In times of safety and in times of peril – There is no King but Christ. j. In times of moral decency and in times of moral decay – There is no King but Christ. Let me close by praying this hymn. May it be our prayer. 1 Lead on, O King eternal, the day of march has come; henceforth in fields of conquest your tents will be our home. Through days of preparation your grace has made us strong; and now, O King eternal, we lift our battle song. 2 Lead on, O King eternal, till sin's fierce war shall cease, and holiness shall whisper the sweet amen of peace. For not with swords' loud clashing or roll of stirring drums with deeds of love and mercy the heavenly kingdom comes. 3 Lead on, O King eternal; we follow, not with fears, for gladness breaks like morning where'er your face appears. Your cross is lifted o'er us, we journey in its light; the crown awaits the conquest; lead on, O God of might. We pray this in our King's holy name… Amen. Benediction: And now may the Man of Sorrows Who came to reclaim ruined sinners, Who sealed your pardon with His blood, And made a full atonement for helpless we, Bless you from Zion all the days of your life, And direct your hearts into God's love and into the steadfastness of Christ. Until we meet again… Go in Peace.

As we journey together through the solemn days of Lent, the Alliance for Catholic Education and ThinkND invite you to join us as we walk toward the light that our faith tells us lies ahead.Join us for Grace Period, a weekly series of audio reflections by Fr. Lou DelFra, C.S.C. '92, M. Div. '03, designed to meet your busy schedule and help you pause, listen for God's voice in your life, and begin anew.Fr. Lou invites us to walk during this Holy Week with Jesus through the great storm of His life.Though Christ's Way of the Cross is utterly singular in human experience, He also teaches us that His journey is one we must all make, each in our own way.And Jesus invites us to make it – like Him, as a journey of self-sacrifice – but also as a journey of hope.Thanks for listening! The ThinkND Podcast is brought to you by ThinkND, the University of Notre Dame's online learning community. We connect you with videos, podcasts, articles, courses, and other resources to inspire minds and spark conversations on topics that matter to you — everything from faith and politics, to science, technology, and your career. Learn more about ThinkND and register for upcoming live events at think.nd.edu. Join our LinkedIn community for updates, episode clips, and more.

Penal Substitution      Penal substitution is the idea that Jesus bore the penalty for our sins on the cross. He was judged in our place and bore the wrath of God that rightfully belongs to us. The record of Scripture is that “He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed” (Isa 53:5), and “the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him” (Isa 53:6), for “by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities” (Isa 53:11), and “the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering” (Isa 53:10a). Jesus is presented in the NT as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). We're also told that God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2 Cor 5:21), and that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us” (Gal 3:13), and that “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Pet 2:24). In this way, the sins of all humanity were imputed to Christ while He was on the cross, suffering as our substitute. And we must always remember that the sacrifice of Christ was purely voluntary, as He said, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11), and “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:18). And Jesus has “been offered once to bear the sins of many” (Heb 9:28), and “Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust” (1 Pet 3:18).      Louis Berkhof states, “The Bible certainly teaches that the sufferings and death of Christ were vicarious, and vicarious in the strict sense of the word that He took the place of sinners, and that their guilt was imputed, and their punishment transferred, to Him.”[1] And Charles Ryrie adds, “Only the substitutionary death of Christ can provide that which God's justice demands and thereby become the basis for the gift of eternal life to those who believe.”[2] And according to Lewis Chafer, “The doctrine of satisfaction embodies the conception of Christ's death, that it was a penal substitution which had the objective purpose of providing a just and righteous ground for God to remit the sins of those for whom Christ died.”[3] John Walvoord agrees, saying: "This point of view, variously described as vicarious or penal, holds that the atonement is objectively directed toward God and the satisfaction of His holy character and demands upon the sinner. It is vicarious in the sense that Christ is the Substitute who bears the punishment rightly due sinners, their guilt being imputed to Him in such a way that He representatively bore their punishment. This is in keeping with the general idea of sacrifices in the Old Testament and is explicitly taught in the New Testament (see John 1:29; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 2:24)."[4] Robert B. Thieme, Jr. states: "The punishment incurred by Adam when he sinned—spiritual death—is passed down to the entire human race. Everyone is born under this penalty of sin, hopelessly in debt to God. The debt has been paid by the perfect humanity of Christ, whose substitutionary spiritual death on the cross “canceled out the certificate of debt” (Col 2:14). Man now stands free to accept Jesus Christ and receive the gift of an eternal relationship with God."[5]      What's unique about Jesus is that He is both our High Priest as well as the sacrifice for our sins. In the OT, priests would offer animals to die as the sacrifice, but Jesus offered “Himself as a guilt offering” (Isa 53:10) in order to take away sins. The writer to the Hebrews states, “Christ appeared as a high priest” (Heb 9:11), and this in order “to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb 9:26), and this was a once-for-all sacrifice, as He “offered one sacrifice for sins for all time” (Heb 10:12).      Sin is the breaking of God's law, for “Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law” (1 John 3:4 CSB). The penalty for breaking God's law is death, for “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). Jesus took our sins upon Himself and “bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Pet 2:24), and He “died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18). And He died for the sins of everyone, for “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Though Christ died for everyone, the benefits of the cross are applied only to those who believe, and “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43; Eph 1:7). Additionally, we receive “the gift of righteousness” (Rom 5:17), and “eternal life” (John 10:28). At the moment of faith in Christ, we are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24).   Propitiation      Jesus' death on the cross was a satisfactory sacrifice to God which completely paid the price for our sin. We owed a debt to God that we could never pay, and Jesus paid that debt in full when He died on the cross and bore the punishment that rightfully belonged to us. In Romans, Paul states that we “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith (Rom 3:24-25a ESV). Here, Paul used the Greek word hilasterion (ἱλαστήριον)—translated propitiation—to show that Jesus' shed blood completely satisfied God's righteous demands toward our sin, with the result that there is nothing more for the sinner to pay to God. Jesus paid our sin-debt in full. The Apostle John tells us “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2; cf., 4:10). Jesus' death on the cross forever satisfied God's righteous demands toward the sins of everyone for all time! God has “canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col 2:14). Regarding Christ's death, J. Dwight Pentecost states: "You can be adjusted to God's standard, because God made Christ to become sin for us. The One who knew no sin, the One in whose lips had never been found guile, took upon Himself our sin in order that He might bear our sins to the cross and offer Himself as an acceptable substitute to God for us—on our behalf, in our place. And when Jesus Christ identified Himself with sinners and went to the cross on their behalf and in their place, He was making possible the doctrine of reconciliation. He was making it possible for God to conform the world to Himself, to adjust the world to His standard so that sinners in the world might find salvation because “Jesus paid it all.” You can be adjusted to God, to God's standard, through Christ, by His death, by His cross, by His blood, and by His identification with sinners."[6] John Walvoord adds: "The work of Christ in salvation has still another major aspect of what is called in the Bible “propitiation,” “the sacrifice of atonement,” or satisfying God's righteous demands or judgment upon a sinner. Illustrations of this can be found in Romans 3:25 and 1 John 2:2; 4:10. The idea of propitiation is that God as a righteous God must demand punishment for those who sin against Him. Christ in His death on the cross provided propitiation, atonement, or satisfaction of that claim, so that God is fully satisfied now in saving a person who does not deserve to be saved."[7] Robert Lightner states: "The death of Christ satisfied the righteous demands of God the Father. Because of sin His holiness had been offended, and only a sinless sacrifice could meet His righteous demands. Jesus Christ the Righteous One provided in Himself the perfect sacrifice. Paul set forth Christ as the propitiation for the remission of sins (Rom 3:25). Because of the blood He shed Christ provided in Himself the appointed place where a holy God could meet sinful man. Christ is now our place of meeting—our mercy seat (cf. 1 John 2:2; 4:10). The need for propitiation stems from the sin of man and the holiness of God. It is man who needs to be reinstated or reconciled with God. God's holiness and righteous demands remain unchanged. Since there must be a basis upon which God may receive sinners, satisfaction must be made for sin: propitiation provided just such a basis through the death of Christ."[8] Paul Enns states: "Propitiation means that the death of Christ fully satisfied all the righteous demands of God toward the sinner. Because God is holy and righteous He cannot overlook sin; through the work of Jesus Christ God is fully satisfied that His righteous standard has been met. Through union with Christ the believer can now be accepted by God and be spared from the wrath of God."[9]      There are several concepts at work in the doctrine of propitiation. First, God is holy which means He is completely set apart from sin and cannot look on wickedness with favor. The Scripture states, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You cannot look on wickedness with favor” (Hab 1:13), and “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Because all mankind is marked by sin, we are all in danger of the fires of hell, unless we turn to Christ as our Savior. Second, God made a way for His righteousness to be satisfied, and this through the cross of Christ. As Christians, we “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Rom 3:24-25a ESV). And John tells us “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2a; cf., 4:10). God is forever satisfied with the death of Christ. Third, the wrath of God is removed because Jesus was judged in our place and bore the punishment that rightfully belongs to us. Paul wrote, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Rom 5:8-9). Dr. Steven R. Cook     ___ [1] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 376. [2] Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology, 357. [3] Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 3, 143. [4] John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord, 157. [5] Robert B. Thieme, Jr. “Barrier”, Thieme's Bible Doctrine Dictionary, 22. [6] J. Dwight Pentecost, Things Which Become Sound Doctrine, 89. [7] John F. Walvoord, What We Believe (Galaxie Software, 2007), 76. [8] Robert P. Lightner, Handbook of Evangelical Theology, 195. [9] Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology, 325.

True life, love, and joy stem from The True Vine, Christ Jesus. Though Christ and His Spirit, God intends to bear fruit in the hearts and lives of His believers.

Text: Colossians 1:13-14   The Work of Redemption Accomplished (1:13) God the Father accomplished His saving work through Christ. This saving work delivered us from darkness and brought us into the kingdom of Christ.   The Work of Redemption Applied (1:14) Through Christ's sacrificial death, we have been set free from the power of sin. Though Christ's sacrificial death, we have been forgiven of the penalty of sin.

     Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross is the basis for our forgiveness of sins. Scripture reveals, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph 1:7). Forgiveness translates the Greek word aphesis (ἄφεσις), which, according to BDAG, refers to “the act of freeing from an obligation, guilt, or punishment, pardon, cancellation.”[1] It means releasing someone from a debt they cannot pay. Paul wrote that God has “forgiven us all our transgressions, having erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross” (Col 2:13b-14). In Colossians 2:13, the word forgiveness translates the Greek word charizomai (χαρίζομαι), which means, “to show oneself gracious by forgiving wrongdoing, forgive, pardon.”[2] This reveals the loving and gracious heart of God toward lost sinners, for whom Christ died (Rom 5:8). Warren Wiersbe states, “When He shed His blood for sinners, Jesus Christ canceled the huge debt that was against sinners because of their disobedience to God's holy Law…In this way His Son paid the full debt when He died on the cross.”[3] According to Norman Geisler: "The Greek word for forgiveness is aphesis, which means “to forgive” or “to remit” one's sins. Hebrews declares that God cannot forgive without atonement, for “the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb 9:22). Paul announced: “Through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you” (Acts 13:38). Forgiveness does not erase the sin; history cannot be changed. But forgiveness does erase the record of the sin. Like a pardon, the crime of the accused is not expunged from history but is deleted from his account. Hence, it is “in [Christ Jesus that] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace” (Eph 1:7; cf. Col 1:14)."[4] Paul Enns adds: "Forgiveness is the legal act of God whereby He removes the charges that were held against the sinner because proper satisfaction or atonement for those sins has been made. There are several Greek words used to describe forgiveness. One is charizomai, which is related to the word grace and means “to forgive out of grace.” It is used of cancellation of a debt (Col 2:13). The context emphasizes that our debts were nailed to the cross, with Christ's atonement freely forgiving the sins that were charged against us. The most common word for forgiveness is aphiemi, which means “to let go, release” or “send away.” The noun form is used in Ephesians 1:7 where it stresses the believer's sins have been forgiven or sent away because of the riches of God's grace as revealed in the death of Christ. Forgiveness forever solves the problem of sin in the believer's life—all sins past, present, and future (Col 2:13). This is distinct from the daily cleansing from sin that is necessary to maintain fellowship with God (1 John 1:9). Forgiveness is manward; man had sinned and needed to have his sins dealt with and removed."[5]      Under the OT system of sacrifices, we are told, “in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed” (Rom 3:25). The animal sacrifices did not remove sin. It was a temporary arrangement whereby God “passed over” the sins of His people until the time when Christ would come and die for the sins of the world. Concerning Romans 3:25, Hoehner states this “has the idea of a temporary suspension of punishment for sins committed before the cross, whereas ἄφεσις is the permanent cancellation of or release from the punishment for sin because it has been paid for by Christ's sacrifice.”[6] Merrill F. Unger adds: "The great foundational truth respecting the believer in relationship to his sins is the fact that his salvation comprehends the forgiveness of all his trespasses past, present, and future so far as condemnation is concerned (Rom 8:1; Col 2:13; John 3:18; 5:24). Since Christ has vicariously borne all sin and since the believer's standing in Christ is complete, he is perfected forever in Christ. When a believer sins, he is subject to chastisement from the Father but never to condemnation with the world (1 Cor 11:31–32)."[7]      Though Christ died for everyone (Heb 2:9; 1 John 2:2), the benefit of forgiveness is available only to those who trust in Him as Savior. Thiessen notes, “The death of Christ made forgiveness possible, but not necessary, since Christ died voluntarily…God is still entitled to say on what conditions man may receive forgiveness.”[8] Judicial forgiveness of sins is available to all, but each person must exercise their own volition and turn to Christ, and Christ alone, for salvation. The record of Scripture is that “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), and “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43). Familial Forgiveness of Sins      From the moment of our spiritual birth until we leave this world for heaven, we are in Christ and all our sins are judicially forgiven (Eph 2:5-6; Col 2:13). In addition, we have a new spiritual nature (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15), and the power to live righteously in God's will (Rom 6:11-14). However, during our time in this world, we still possess a sin nature (Rom 7:14-25; Gal 5:17), and occasionally yield to temptation (both internal and external) and commit sin. According to William MacDonald, “Conversion does not mean the eradication of the sin nature. Rather it means the implanting of the new, divine nature, with power to live victoriously over indwelling sin.”[9] Our acts of sin do not jeopardize our eternal salvation which was secured by the Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:28), but is does hurt our walk with the Lord (1 John 1:5-10), and stifles the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us (1 Cor 3:16; Eph 4:30; 1 Th 5:19). Though we try to keep our sins small and few, the reality is that we continue to sin, and some days more than others. As we grow spiritually in our knowledge of God's Word, we will pursue righteousness more and more and sin will diminish, but sin will never completely disappear from our lives. Living in the reality of God's Word, we know three things are true when we sin.      First, there is no condemnation (Rom 8:1). Though we have sinned against God, our eternal security and righteous standing before Him is never jeopardized. We are eternally secure (John 10:28), and continue to possess the righteousness of God that was imputed to us at the moment of salvation (Rom 4:1-5; 2 Cor 5:21; Phil 3:9).      Second, we have broken fellowship with God (1 John 1:5-6). When we sin, as a Christian, we have broken fellowship with God and stifled the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us (1 John 1:5-6; Eph 4:30; 1 Th 5:19). If we continue in sin, or leave our sin unconfessed, we are in real danger of divine discipline from God (Psa 32:3-4; Heb 12:5-11; 1 John 5:16-17; cf. Dan 4:37), which can eventuate in physical death (1 John 5:16; cf., Lev 10:1-2; Acts 5:3-5).      Third, if we confess our sin to God, He will forgive that sin and restore us to fellowship (1 John 1:9; cf. Psa 32:5). Being in fellowship with God means walking in the sphere of His light (1 John 1:5-7), being honest with Him about our sin (1 John 1:8, 10), and coming before His “throne of grace” (Heb 4:16) in transparent humility and confessing that sin in order to be forgiven familially (1 John 1:9). God is faithful and just to forgive our sins every time we confess them because of the atoning work of Christ who shed His blood on the cross for us (1 John 2:1-2). John wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Concerning 1 John 1:9, William MacDonald states: "The forgiveness John speaks about here [i.e. 1 John 1:9] is parental, not judicial. Judicial forgiveness means forgiveness from the penalty of sins, which the sinner receives when he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is called judicial because it is granted by God acting as Judge. But what about sins which a person commits after conversion? As far as the penalty is concerned, the price has already been paid by the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary. But as far as fellowship in the family of God is concerned, the sinning saint needs parental forgiveness, that is, the forgiveness of His Father. He obtains it by confessing his sin. We need judicial forgiveness only once; that takes care of the penalty of all our sins—past, present, and future. But we need parental forgiveness throughout our Christian life."[10]      God's grace compels us to pursue righteousness and good works (Tit 2:11-14), which God has prepared for us to walk in (Eph 2:10). But since we still have a sinful nature and live in a fallen world with temptation all around, we occasionally fall into sin. When we sin, we agree with God that we have sinned and we confess it to Him seeking His forgiveness. When we sin against others and wrongly hurt them, we confess our sin to them and ask for their forgiveness. Because our sin hurts others (and their sin hurts us), there is a need for love, patience, humility, and ongoing forgiveness among the saints. The apostle Paul wrote “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Col 3:12-15). Dr. Steven R. Cook   [1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 155. [2] Ibid., 1078. [3] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2, 127. [4] Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Three: Sin, Salvation, 227. [5] Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology, 325–326. [6] Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 207. [7] Merrill F. Unger, et al, “Forgiveness,” The New Unger's Bible Dictionary, 440. [8] Henry Clarence Thiessen and Vernon D. Doerksen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, 276. [9] William MacDonald, Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, 2310. [10] Ibid., 2310-11.

To begin this series covering creation in Advent, Pastor Cana brings us to Colossians 1:15-19, in which the author clarifies that Jesus, firstborn of creation, has been a Creator since the beginning and created all things. We are encouraged to create, mindful of our own createdness.

This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Heavenly Father, we are so thankful that you have chosen to make us yours. We are so thankful that you love us with a tender fatherly love. You are the absolute perfect Father, and we thank you for your loving kindness, and we thank you for your tenderness and, we thank you that you speak truth to us in love.You sent the word of God, truth himself, Jesus Christ. And Jesus, you came because you were moved by love. When you saw our desperate state, our sin-sick souls, and our sick bodies, oppressed by the demonic and the evil one, living in a fallen world, Lord Jesus, you were moved by love to come and deal with the root of the issue, which is our sin. You came to heal our souls, and in the process you reveal yourself to us. You give us faith and the gift of repentance, and you command us to exercise our faith.I pray today, strengthen our faith in who you are, and strengthen our faith in what you've said. And make us a people that believe no matter what. Even if things in our life occur that are against our will, make us a people that still cry out to you, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."Lord, as we look at this tremendous text, I pray that you reveal the truth to us and apply it to us. Most of all, I pray if anyone has not yet had a true saving salvific encounter with the living God, I pray they do so by meeting Jesus Christ, repenting of sin and turning to him. Lord, bless our time in the holy scriptures. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.The title of the sermon today is Eternal Misery or Eternal Joy. As many of you know, I've been dealing with a toothache this past month. I finally got it fixed this past Monday, praise be to God. As I was in the dental chair a couple of weeks ago, midway through the root canal, the dental assistant asks the endodontist, "Do you know why the next door dentist has been out the entire week?" She shook her head, and she said, "No." He responded. He said, "Because she had 10 family members who died in Palestine."The jarring juxtaposition of my temporary pain and this woman's lasting pain made an impression. My pain was temporary because I'm blessed to live in a time where healing is available just by going down the street, thanks be to God, by providing medical professionals. Her pain is lasting because the forces of evil are still alive and treacherous. Despite all of our advances in medicine, technology, people continue to destroy each other.Jesus Christ is the healing king who has come to heal our souls and restore our bodies. God loves life, and God loves people. He wants us as healthy as possible. But true health always begins at the level of the soul, and we've all come down with a terrible case of sin, and it's time to call Dr. Jesus.The main subject of our text today is the miraculous healing of a sick woman and the miraculous resurrection of a girl. The text reveals a tender side of Jesus. It reveals Jesus who is most attentive, most sympathetic to the most hurting. He's presented as gentle, approachable, the healer of the brokenhearted, a sanctuary and a refuge for the weak and helpless. He is the great comforter of the distressed even in the present midst of suffering.Sin makes our world a miserable place, and Jesus entered into this misery to save us from sin, to relieve the miserable consequences of sin in the world. And Jesus does bring a healing power, and we have access to his healing power by believing in him. When we believe in Christ, you have access to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enters your body, and your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Christians are the third temple of God, and God wants your temple, your body to be healthy, strong, resilient, and effective. Whenever we read a passage, like this healing passage before us, when we read passage like this in scripture, we are to be reminded that human health is important to God, therefore it should be important to us. And the Holy Spirit... us holistically healthy.With that said, would you look at our text today in Mark 5:21-43. Mark 5:21. "And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly saying, 'My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and alive.' He went with him."And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. There was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment, for she said, 'If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.' Immediately, the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease."Jesus perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my garments?' His disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, "Who touched me?" He looked around to see who had done it, but the woman knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease.'"While he was still speaking there from the ruler's house, some who said, 'Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?' But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, 'Do not fear, only believe.' And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter, and James, and John the brother of James."They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he entered he said to them, 'Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.' They laughed at him, but he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand, he said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise.' Immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was 12 years of age, and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and he told them to give her something to eat."This is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, fallible, authoritative word. May he write these eternal truths upon our hearts. Jesus has presented the gospel of Mark as the king of all kings above all kings, king with ultimate authority. He has ultimate authority over God's word. He has authority over nature. He has authority over Satan and the demonic. And in our text today, reveals that he has absolute authority even over humanity's greatest enemy, death itself. He's not merely just a prophet or a miracle worker, he's the very son of God, the one promised through the pages of the Old Testament.Note the similarities between the two miracles. Both the petitioner here desires to be made well, and the word that's used in the Greek is salvation, to be saved. Both the petitioner falls at Jesus' feet, and both the person who is healed is called daughter.In the case of the daughter, the little girl had... In the case of the woman, she's been ill for 12 years, and the other, the girl, is 12 years old. The condition of the two female sufferers render them ceremonially unclean, the woman with her menstrual disorder and the other girl by death. In both cases, the uncleanness is boldly ignored, and in both cases, both the case of the woman who touches the garment of Jesus and when Jesus touches the girl's corpse, fear is mentioned in both and faith is a factor in both.Three points to frame up our time, or three sections. First, 12 years of misery end in eternal joy. Then, 12 years of joy end in temporary misery. Then, the question before us is eternal misery or eternal joy.First, 12 years of misery end in eternal joy. This is verse 21. "Jesus crossed again on the boat to the other side and a great crowd gathered about him. He was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly saying, 'My little daughter's at the point of death. Come, lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live,' and he came with him."Jesus left the shores of Capernaum to escape the crowds. In the interval, he calmed a raging storm and delivered a man from the grasp of a legion of demons. That was last week. Now he returns, and the swarm is there to greet him. We meet Jairus, who's one of the rulers of the synagogue. It's an honorific type bestowed on someone who has been distinguished through their service to the synagogue. This is a person who is respectable, substantial, of good... prominent, and moral.We see that not all the Jewish authorities were opposed to Jesus. In his homeland, this person's one of the Jewish leaders, and he has particular insight in who Jesus is. He's heard of Jesus' miracles. He sees Jesus. But he's not here as a spiritual leader, he's here as a desperate father. He's heard that Jesus can heal, and he comes to Jesus asking for healing. He's interceding for his daughter.Despite his high rank and his prestige in the community, he falls humbly at Jesus' feet, prostrated before the king, acknowledging, "Jesus, I'm helpless. I don't have the power that I need. I need your authority, and authority and a power greater than mine." He's probably taken significant risk to his reputation, but his desperation brings him to his knees. There was no other option.C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain, his famous quote is... He says, "We can ignore even pleasure, but pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasure, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."His little daughter is quite ill, at death's door with an unspecified malady. The father here is the first of three parents in the Gospel of Mark coming to Jesus, begging and imploring for healing. In all three cases, the sick can't do it for themselves, and it's a parent that steps up. It's a parent that intercedes.This is a reminder for every parent. Parents, one of our main jobs is to intercede for our children, to stand on our knees before the Lord and beg for their souls, and beg for their bodies, beg for their minds and ask the Lord to protect and bless. Jesus here listens to Jairus's plea and immediately goes to heal the daughter. As he went, the excited crowd goes with him, surrounds him, making it hard to walk.Verse 24: "A great crowd followed him, and thronged about him. There was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and spent all that she had and was no better but rather grew worse." Instead of alleviating her suffering, the doctors had only made it worse. It was a chronic bleeding that she experienced. Despite all of her most persistent efforts, she didn't get better. The illness became increasingly debilitating as she grew older and she spent all her money on a cure to know avail.Also, this illness makes her ceremonially unclean. She's in a perpetual state of uncleanness, meaning she is virtually ostracized from the community. She can't go to the temple. She can't go to the synagogue. Even being around her meant people were considered ceremonially unclean. It was a miserable condition.The secrecy with which she approaches Jesus shows that she knows that she shouldn't be out in public. She's violating a taboo. She too, like Jairus, believed that Jesus had the power to heal. And despite the crush of the crowd, she somehow manages to get close enough to reach out to him.I do want you to notice that the woman is at the opposite end of Jairus, as opposite as you can be, socially speaking, economically, religiously speaking. He's a male leader, she's a nameless woman. He's a synagogue official, she's ritually unclean and excluded from religious community. He has a family with a large household, she has spent all of her money trying to find a cure, impoverished by doctor's fees. How their fortune seemed to be suddenly reversed, his loss of time becomes her gain. The same crowd that slowed Jesus down toward his progress to Jairus's daughter gives her an opportunity to be healed.Verse 27, "She heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, 'If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." This moment of contact is grammatically highlighted here in the text. The verb "she touched" is the first finite verb after a series of seven participles. It's read, "And a woman being in a flow of blood for 12 years and having endured many treatments, having spent all her money on them, having not benefited but rather having gotten worse, having heard about Jesus," and then it says, "She touched his garment." The word touch here gains extraordinary intensity. This is the climax of the story.Although her uncleanliness was supposed to transfer to Jesus, the opposite here happens. His purity overpowers the disease. The idea of healing to be brought about by contact with a holy man's garments, we see this idea in the Old Testament. We see this even in the apostles, and the idea's presented all throughout scripture. In one instant, 12 years of pain just disappeared. 12 years of suffering disappeared. 12 years of humiliation, everything just changed in a second. She's healed.Verse 29, "Immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Jesus perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him immediately turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my garments?'"We know from text like Philippians 2 that Jesus' eternal glory and power were veiled in his human flesh. He did his earthly ministry not from his own power but from the power of the Holy Spirit. He voluntarily set aside divine attributes when he took upon himself the form of a servant. But despite his voluntary limitations, Jesus knew that God's power had gone out from him. He felt that this healing cost him something. It cost him some kind of power, some kind of spiritual energy, which is one of the reasons why we see him often escaping after a season of intense ministry where he loses spiritual power. He goes and he spends significant time with God, the Father, to recuperate in prayer.At this crucial point in the narrative, the focus suddenly shifts from the human perception of Jesus to Jesus' perception of humans. It's a switch in perspective that's often used particularly in the Epistle Galatians 4:9. "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God." From God's perspective, he does the knowing first.In Mark 5:31, "his disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing around, and yet you say, "Who touched me?"'" Are the disciples being dense or sarcastic? I think they're just focused on the mission in front of him. "Jesus, we have to get to this girl. Jesus, you see how important it is that Jairus's daughter gets healed. We know that delay can be fatal. So why are you asking this seemingly silly question?" Since the crowd was so large and people thronged from all sides, the disciples here are perplexed by the question.But Jesus won't let the woman just touch him and leave. Here you have to pause and say why. She had great faith. She got the miracle that she needed. But Jesus pauses everything and in a very public way has her speak. He wants to speak with her, and he wants her to confess the power of God that she just experienced.It's not enough for a believer to just believe in your heart. There's no such thing as an anonymous Christian. If you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord in your heart, the next step is you have to confess that he's Lord with your mouth, and this is what Jesus is doing. He doesn't just want to heal her body, he wants to heal her soul, so he says, "Who touched my garments?" Whenever Jesus asks a question, he's not looking for information. He's looking to elicit a confession. He wants her to speak.In verse 32, "He looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth." She comes in fear and trembling. Her heart was throbbing. Her eyes are tearing up. Would he take the cure away? Will she be punished for breaking the ceremonial law? Would he be angry that she made him unclean or that she tried to steal healing?Jesus here, like a skillful doctor, wounds in order to heal, and he does it tenderly. This is a costly confession to her. That's why she comes with fear and trembling. To speak before a crowd above such personal matters would be incredibly humbling. But humility is an essential part of the kingdom of God.She tells him the whole truth, a phrase that's used in judicial proceedings to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She's not ashamed to publicly testify that Jesus Christ did heal her.After her confession, Jesus turns to her in verse 34 and he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well go in peace and be healed of your disease." He calls her daughter. She's not related to him. Most likely we don't even know how much older he was than her, but he calls her daughter. He loves her with the heart of God, the Father.What he's communicating to Jairus, who's here, Jairus, who's enjoyed his daughter for 12 years, just 12 years of bliss, he says, "Jairus, in the same way that you have loved your daughter, cared for your daughter, in the same way that you are in pain because of your daughter's pain, I have felt the same over this woman. She is my daughter."The woman was healed because she touched Jesus with faith. She touched Jesus, believing that God could heal her, that this man wasn't just a man, that he was the son of God. For her, faith isn't just intellectual ascent. She knows that, "If I touch him, something will happen. I will be transformed."It's faith in Jesus or is it faith in God? Well, that's a false dichotomy. They come to Jesus, both Jairus and this woman, knowing that the power of God comes through Christ. He says, "Your faith has made you well. Your faith has saved you." The Greek says... It's a Greek word "sozo". Her bodily healing is a good picture of the healing of her soul, and that's why Jesus stopped her. Then he says to her, "Go in peace," which in the English peace is just the absence of strife or the absence of hostility. In the Hebrew, it comes from the word "shalom", which just means wholeness or soundness, holistic health. He says, "Go in this peace." After receiving the benediction, she does.The other reason why he has her publicly announced the healing is to welcome her back into the community. He announces this publicly so that the community knows she's no longer ceremonially unclean. She's been healed on a spiritual level, on a physical level. Now on a social level, he welcomes her back into the community.This story of the woman is our story. We have been, as believers, touched by the power of God, and we've been separated from the faithless crowd by our fearful and wonderful knowledge that Jesus Christ is God, Jesus Christ is Lord, and he has the power to save our souls.The second portion of our text is point two, 12 years of joy and in temporary misery. Verse 35, "And while he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?" This is the most absolute heart-wrenching news that a parent can hear. What parent has not sat 3:00 AM with a sick child begging the Lord, praying over them, "Lord, remove the fever"? What parent has not driven anxiously to the emergency room with a wounded or severely sick child?It's bad enough that she was sick, but now she's died. But knowing if Jesus had not been slowed down, he might've made it to the girl in time probably makes things worse. It seems like Jesus slowed down almost on purpose, almost like he did with Lazarus. He waited two days until Lazarus was surely dead before coming and resurrecting him. The time for emergency medical procedures passed. So why was Jesus wasting his time with this woman, having a conversation with her? Her illness wasn't life-threatening. Couldn't he just come back to her later as a sense of triage so amiss? Well, the answer to that is there's enough power of God to go around for all.My daughters were yesterday arguing, quibbling, quibbling is the word, over which holiday is the best. All three of the youngest landed on Christmas. Christmas is my favorite. Then they got an argument of like, "No, Christmas is my favorite. No, Christmas is my favorite." My response was, "It can be all of our favorites."This is access to the power of God. His power is not diminished by giving His power to one. It's not lessened to give it to another. Therefore, His timing is always contrary to our timing.Verse 36, but overhearing what they said, "Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, 'Do not fear, only believe.'" Jairus at this point must've been reeling. He must've been thinking, "Lord, take my life, not hers. Let me die instead of her." But Jairus had witnessed a miracle. He had witnessed the testimony of this woman. He witnessed how tender and compassionate Jesus was with her, and he had witnessed her faith, and that faith most likely inspired his faith.Jesus tells him, "Do not fear, only believe. Keep on believing." What he's saying is, "Ignore the reality that you're seeing. This isn't ultimate reality. This isn't all there is. What you see is not all there is. Ignore the |reality of death and clinging to Jesus' promise of resurrection."Jairus had believed that Jesus could heal his daughter. That's why he came to Jesus. But a resurrection, could Jesus really resurrect her? Jesus is calling Jairus to an even greater level of faith. Often, we do experience delays in life. It feels like when we ask for something from the Lord and it's just delay, delay, delay, sometimes it's easy to sit back and say, "I don't think the Lord loves me anymore." Jesus here is showing that his love is compatible with delays. His grace doesn't come on our timetable, therefore we're not supposed to impose our timetable on the Lord.For Jesus, there was no more problem to resurrect the girl than to cure the fever. Therefore, in times of delay, we are told to keep trusting. Do not fear, keep believing. We don't know all the facts. God does, therefore we are to trust him.2 Corinthians 4:17 says, "For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."Teresa of Avila says, "From eternity, the most miserable life in the history of the earth will look like one night in a bad hotel." From God's perspective, 1,000 years is but a day.Verse 37, "And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James." Jesus dismisses the crowds and instructs them to stay behind. He takes his three most important disciples. I'm calling them the big three from now. The big three are Peter, James, and John. He welcomes them in to see the resurrection. These three will be given a foretaste of Jesus' glory at the transfiguration. These three will be welcomed to pray with Jesus and share in his suffering at Gethsemane, so he welcomes them to go with him.Verse 38, "They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly, the families in shock." In Matthew's narrative, it's clear that professional mourners were hired and they were already brought in. In that context, you would hire mourners, wailers, and flute players who arrived. They communicated to the community of what had transpired.Verse 39, "When he had entered, he said to them, 'Why are you making commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.' They laughed at him, but he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was."The professional mourners, they know death. They're experts in death, therefore they laughed. "What are you talking about? Jesus, we know that she is dead." They laugh at Christ with derision. Jesus is using this metaphor of sleep to tell them that he is about to resurrect her. He is about to wake her up, so to speak. She's not dead but sleeping. Jesus is interpreting death from God's viewpoint.The purpose of this declaration is that death will not have the last word for God's people. God's people do not die. Physically, yes. But we, our soul, we continue living. Jesus puts all the scoffers outside and enters the room only with Jairus, his wife, and the three disciples, and the existence of a separate bedroom, for the girl is testimony to Jairus's wealth. Most Palestinian dwellings from this time were poor, one-room affairs.Verse 41, "In taking her by the ha nd, he said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise.'" Jesus never hesitates to contract ritual defilement by touching a leper or touching a dead person. Why? Because he's holy, and his holiness is overpowering. It's more contagious. It's more transmitting than the sickness.He says to her, "Talitha cumi," He speaks to her in Aramaic. This is interesting because Aramaic seems to have been the usual speech in the Jewish home, especially in Galilee. Greek was certainly the literary and cultural language. Hebrew was the religious language. But at home, the heart language was Aramaic. Aramaic was Jesus' heart language.The command "ephphatha" given to the mute man or when Christ was on the cross, he says, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is Aramaic, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He addresses God as Abba, father.The risen Lord spoke to Mary in her own language, in Aramaic, and that she turned and spoke to him in Aramaic, "raboni" , which means teacher. Jesus here speaks to this little girl in her heart language. "Talitha cumi." Little girl, wake up. Little girl, arise."Verse 42, "And immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was 12 years of age, and they were immediately overcome with amazement. He strictly charged that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat."Everyone was overcome with amazement. It was one thing for Jesus to calm the storm, it was something else for Jesus to cast out a legion of demons from the poor man in the text last week, but it's something altogether different for Jesus to resurrect this little girl. And he does so just by speaking. He's demonstrating that he is Lord of all, even death itself.I love this little detail at the end that he tells them, "Hey, feed her something," which for me shows... This is eyewitness account. Why in the world would you include that little detail that adds nothing to the progression of the narrative? Because it happened. Because Jesus doesn't even overlook, despite the commotion or practical need for food.That brings us to point three, eternal misery or eternal joy. Jesus here is more than a prophet. He's more than even Moses or Elijah. He's Lord of all creation. He speaks. He commands the winds and the seas. They all obey him. He is Lord even over Satan and his whole dominion. And now the people of Israel see that Jesus is Lord even over death. He is the one who has come to reverse, overturn the curse, undo the effects of the fall of Adam upon the human race.Jesus' mission wasn't just to come feed people, wasn't just to come teach people, wasn't just to come heal people. No. Jesus has come to deal with the root of all human suffering. He's doing things that the crowd does not understand. They're blinded by their immediate needs. They only see what Jesus can do for them.Jairus and the woman here are the exception. They approach Jesus not just with demands, but with faith, humble faith. They seek healing, but they also exercise faith in God. Jairus seeks help from Jesus. And when help does not come how he wants it to, he keeps trusting, he keeps believing. They come to him with faith that he is who he said he was.Even if the woman had not been healed, and even if Jairus' daughter had not been raised, they still would have believed that Jesus was sent by God and that God's will had been done even if the outcome was not what they wanted. This is the difference between faith and unbelief. Faith accepts the outcome regardless. Regardless of what happens, thy will be done, Lord.The great Bible teacher, G. Campbell Morgan, lost his firstborn daughter. Then 40 years later, preaching on the story of Jairus, he writes this: "I can hardly speak of this matter without becoming personal and reminiscent, remembering a time 40 years ago when my own first lassie lay at the point of death dying. I called for him then, and he came, and surely said to our troubled hearts, 'Fear not. Believe only.' He did not say she shall be made whole. She was not made whole on the earthly plane. She passed away into the life beyond."He did say to her, "Talitha cumi," little lamb, arise.' But in her case, that did not mean stay on the earth level. It meant that he needed her, and he took her to be with himself. She has been with him for all those years as we measure time here, and I've missed her every day. But his word, believe only, has been the strength of the passing years."Like Jairus and the woman who comes to Christ, we must also come to Christ in faith, faith that God is good and that God is loving, faith that he is the one whom God sent, Christ is. And he answers all of our prayers not necessarily according to our desires, and not necessarily according to our timing, but according to God's perfect and holy will.At times we may hear the glorious words, "The child is not dead," or we may hear the tragic words, "The child has died." But no matter what, faith accepts the will of God. Why? Because true saving, living faith understands that when Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the dead, he's pointing ahead to the end of the age when Jesus himself will heal all of our diseases and raise all of God's people from the dead.What happened would soon become common knowledge, but Jesus strictly charges them not to tell anyone. He is managing the messianic expectations of the crowds. There was much yet for Christ to do, and we see that the raucous crowd was already interfering in some ways.The word here when Jesus says arise is the same word that Christ uses talk about his own death, that Jesus was buried, that Jesus was dead, and he did rise from the dead. This right here is one of the greatest truths about Christianity, that we will all die. And if the Lord should tarry, after that comes the judgment. And we need someone to raise us from the dead, and we need someone to bring us through the judgment that we deserve.This little girl, she died twice, as did Lazarus. Then what? Then comes the judgment. Then we stand before God. God at that moment is going to tell us either you go into eternal joy, eternal bliss, or into eternal punishment. This is Matthew 25:46: "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." I wonder when's the last time you meditated on eternity. It just does not end. It's eternity. It's not a hundred years. It's not a thousand. It's not 10,000. It just does not end. It's either eternal life or eternal punishment.2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, "This is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering, since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed."Jesus Christ came because he understands that there is eternal suffering in the future of those who would turn from him. That's what every single one of us deserves. But Jesus came in order to provide salvation. He endured infinite misery to save us from eternal misery. Jesus doesn't suffer for all eternity because he is fully God with infinite glory and power. Jesus overcame eternal suffering by overpowering it with his infinite glory.Jesus, when the woman touched him, perceived that power had gone out from him. Well, that was a foretaste. It's a foreshadowing of what happened on the cross. The reason why this woman became clean and Jesus did not become unclean wasn't because the uncleanness disappeared in thin air. No, he took her uncleanness, and he took it upon himself to the cross. He bled like the woman. He came to become unclean in our place. He had to go into death like the girl so that she could be raised to life. He lost the father's hand on the cross. “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He lost the father's hand in order to be able to extend it to us.2 Corinthians 13:4, "For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God." With his humanity, Jesus endured the crucifixion. With his divinity, he endured eternal sufferings, our eternal sufferings, the eternal sufferings that we deserve."Jonathan Edwards in his 1729 sermon, The Sacrifice of Christ Acceptable, says this: "Though Christ's sufferings were but temporal, that is not eternal, yet they were equivalent to our eternal sufferings by reason of the infinite dignity of his person. Though it was not infinite suffering, yet it was equivalent to infinite suffering, for it was infinite expense. His blood which he spilled, his life, which he laid down was an infinite price because it was the blood of God, as it is expressly called."Acts 20:28, "The Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. His life was the life of that person that was the eternal Son of God, though it was the life of the human nature. Now upon this account, the priced offered was equivalent to the demerit of the sins of all mankind, and his suffering's equivalent to the eternal sufferings of the whole world."Christ suffered infinite suffering to save you, to save me from eternal suffering. How do we get that salvation? How do we get eternal life? How do we get our sins forgiven, the condemnation removed? All you have to do is reach out to Christ in faith. In faith, reach out, and touch him. Have that encounter. Believe that as you reach your hand is there, his hand is there grasp onto yours, and then his coursing healing power goes through your being.Faith takes hold of the power of God, and faith takes hold of His transforming power. This is what saves us. It's faith in Christ. He says, "Don't be afraid, just believe." There is a purifying power in the blood of the lamb of God. No matter what we've done, no matter the uncleanness of our sin, the uncleanness of our lawbreaking, all you have to do is ask for the Lord to purify you, and He will, and He does. All you need is need. All you need is recognition of your need.How much faith do you have to have in Jesus? Just enough to come, just enough to cry out to Christ, just enough to say, "Lord Jesus, have pity on me." The Lord is so gracious. He doesn't refuse anyone that comes to him and says, "Lord, help me."Even if your faith isn't perfect, even if you're brand new to the faith... There's a guy in the scripture that says, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." Even that is enough. Even that is enough to come and to be safe. So, come to Christ wherever you are, doubts and all, and he will begin the process of healing.At this point, I'm going to welcome a brother from the congregation, Brother Robert. Round of applause as he comes up. He's going to testify to the incredible work of God in his life and in his family's life, and just a testimony that God's power is real and he's still working amongst us today. Thank you, Robert.Robert:Morning, everyone. I'm here to share a testimony on behalf of my wife Carissa, my daughter Caitlin, and my son Thomas. For those who don't know me, my name is Robert. When I'm not here playing keyboard, I'm actually working in a biotech company. In fact, I have medical training as a surgeon. This is relevant because two years ago, the weekend of Thanksgiving, my daughter became very sick.It started the weekend of Thanksgiving. She had a party with her friends on the Friday. Saturday, she was a little tired. We thought she was recovering from the party. And on Sunday morning, she refused to get out of bed. While that's normal for a lot of teenagers, it wasn't normal for her. She was highly irritable. She just wanted to curl up and sleep. We felt concerned enough that we manhandled her into the car, took her to the emergency room. And amongst other things, they put a needle into her spinal cord, take some fluid, and it was bad news. They found white blood cells in her cerebral spinal fluid, and these cells presumably were there because of an infection that was affecting her brain.Her ventral diagnosis was something called viral encephalitis. This is where a random virus just affects your brain. It's random enough that it could be one of myriad viruses, and oftentimes you don't even detect which one. The most common viruses that cause this are the ones that cause mouth ulcers and chickenpox. But even then, it's incredibly uncommon. Happens to about one in a million people.I had the experience of actually treating a patient early in my career who suffered from this. He was a 20-something-year-old PhD student. Came into the ER because he had a fever that was so high it was affecting his brain, something called malignant hypothermia. He was rushed to the ICU. The next thing I heard, two days later, he was dead. That was going through my head the entire time Caitlin was diagnosed.Viral encephalitis has a mortality rate of about 30%. Of those people who don't make it, these patients who present late like Caitlin, because she was already quite symptomatic, that statistic gets even worse. The patients who actually do push through, the vast majority have lasting serious neurological issues. All these things were running through my mind as we were going through this.She was rushed to the ICU, had a huge number of tubes and leads hooked up to her. She was comatose. She was looking a lot less like Caitlin, and her body and face were puffing up due to inflammation and fluid retention. I was also thinking, "Did I doom her because we brought her in too late from the hospital?"At some level, I always thought through my training that I could deal with any medical situation with professionalism and dispassion. I now know I'm not able to do this. I was a broken man, devastated that my daughter was being stolen from me right in front of me and I was powerless to do anything about it.Pastors Jan and Shane came quickly when we called them. I'm sure Pastor Jan has his own story about what happened. I distinctly remember them walking into the ICU with great gentleness, knowing how grave the situation was. They also told us they usually ask for God's will to be done, but this time their sense was to pray for God's miraculous healing. I don't remember everything that we prayed about, but I do remember a distinct feeling that God was in the room and in control regardless of the outcome.A couple of hours after they left, Caitlin started discharging fluid like crazy. It was so sudden and so intense, the doctors worried about additional medical complications that could cause fluid imbalance. But her face started returning back to normal, and she showed the smallest hints of improvement, such as moaning a little when they were drawing blood.There was one particular moment when we were changing her IV fluids, and she muttered something, and I shouted at her, "Caitlin, hi." Miraculously, she pried her eyes open and said back, "Hi." That was the sweetest greeting I've ever heard.She spent four days in the ICU, another four days in the hospital ward. She missed over three weeks of school, but managed to return and still somehow managed a 4.0 GPA. She's now attending college. She's coming home next Tuesday for Thanksgiving. That will be celebrating two years since we almost lost her.I don't know how much of this experience was medical versus spiritual, but I do know that every fiber of my being was that Pastors Jan and Shane were vessels of a true miracle that happened that day. In addition, there was an absolute army of people praying for her, our community group, many of you here, were praying for her. Friends, and family, and neighbors across the US, Asia, and Australia. Literally hundreds of people covering her in prayer 24 hours a day. Prayer is powerful. Her neurologist and infectious disease specialists said that her rapid and complete recovery were incompatible with her disease, and I call that a miracle.One more thing. Caitlin liked to spend time in her room with the door just slightly ajar. When she was in the hospital, her door was open all the way, which was because we dragged her out of bed and got her to hospital. I was forced to close that door, since the open door reminded me that she was terribly sick and that she may not be able to come back home. Maybe that's similar to when Mary Magdalene saw the empty tomb, that someone took Jesus' body, which was an additional insult beyond his crucifixion. Right now, her room is wide open, and that's okay not necessarily because she returned to health. Her open door should symbolize God working for our good regardless of outcome.Her open room door is also a reminder that as great as Caitlin's miracle was, and even greater miracle is the empty tomb, Caitlin's salvation is just a hint of Jesus' redeeming power dying for all our sins and the pain, sickness, and suffering which are consequences of that sin. And he rose again that we could have ultimate hope for our own deliverance.The lesson in this storm is not just to appreciate God's ability to miraculously heal. The lesson is that whatever happened, it brought our family and this army of prayer warriors back to the heart of worship, and it helped us focus on God's sovereignty, provision, and redeeming power. Thanks for listening.

This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Heavenly Father, we are so thankful that you have chosen to make us yours. We are so thankful that you love us with a tender fatherly love. You are the absolute perfect Father, and we thank you for your loving kindness, and we thank you for your tenderness and, we thank you that you speak truth to us in love.You sent the word of God, truth himself, Jesus Christ. And Jesus, you came because you were moved by love. When you saw our desperate state, our sin-sick souls, and our sick bodies, oppressed by the demonic and the evil one, living in a fallen world, Lord Jesus, you were moved by love to come and deal with the root of the issue, which is our sin. You came to heal our souls, and in the process you reveal yourself to us. You give us faith and the gift of repentance, and you command us to exercise our faith.I pray today, strengthen our faith in who you are, and strengthen our faith in what you've said. And make us a people that believe no matter what. Even if things in our life occur that are against our will, make us a people that still cry out to you, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."Lord, as we look at this tremendous text, I pray that you reveal the truth to us and apply it to us. Most of all, I pray if anyone has not yet had a true saving salvific encounter with the living God, I pray they do so by meeting Jesus Christ, repenting of sin and turning to him. Lord, bless our time in the holy scriptures. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.The title of the sermon today is Eternal Misery or Eternal Joy. As many of you know, I've been dealing with a toothache this past month. I finally got it fixed this past Monday, praise be to God. As I was in the dental chair a couple of weeks ago, midway through the root canal, the dental assistant asks the endodontist, "Do you know why the next door dentist has been out the entire week?" She shook her head, and she said, "No." He responded. He said, "Because she had 10 family members who died in Palestine."The jarring juxtaposition of my temporary pain and this woman's lasting pain made an impression. My pain was temporary because I'm blessed to live in a time where healing is available just by going down the street, thanks be to God, by providing medical professionals. Her pain is lasting because the forces of evil are still alive and treacherous. Despite all of our advances in medicine, technology, people continue to destroy each other.Jesus Christ is the healing king who has come to heal our souls and restore our bodies. God loves life, and God loves people. He wants us as healthy as possible. But true health always begins at the level of the soul, and we've all come down with a terrible case of sin, and it's time to call Dr. Jesus.The main subject of our text today is the miraculous healing of a sick woman and the miraculous resurrection of a girl. The text reveals a tender side of Jesus. It reveals Jesus who is most attentive, most sympathetic to the most hurting. He's presented as gentle, approachable, the healer of the brokenhearted, a sanctuary and a refuge for the weak and helpless. He is the great comforter of the distressed even in the present midst of suffering.Sin makes our world a miserable place, and Jesus entered into this misery to save us from sin, to relieve the miserable consequences of sin in the world. And Jesus does bring a healing power, and we have access to his healing power by believing in him. When we believe in Christ, you have access to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enters your body, and your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Christians are the third temple of God, and God wants your temple, your body to be healthy, strong, resilient, and effective. Whenever we read a passage, like this healing passage before us, when we read passage like this in scripture, we are to be reminded that human health is important to God, therefore it should be important to us. And the Holy Spirit... us holistically healthy.With that said, would you look at our text today in Mark 5:21-43. Mark 5:21. "And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly saying, 'My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and alive.' He went with him."And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. There was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment, for she said, 'If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.' Immediately, the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease."Jesus perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my garments?' His disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, "Who touched me?" He looked around to see who had done it, but the woman knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease.'"While he was still speaking there from the ruler's house, some who said, 'Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?' But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, 'Do not fear, only believe.' And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter, and James, and John the brother of James."They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he entered he said to them, 'Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.' They laughed at him, but he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand, he said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise.' Immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was 12 years of age, and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and he told them to give her something to eat."This is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, fallible, authoritative word. May he write these eternal truths upon our hearts. Jesus has presented the gospel of Mark as the king of all kings above all kings, king with ultimate authority. He has ultimate authority over God's word. He has authority over nature. He has authority over Satan and the demonic. And in our text today, reveals that he has absolute authority even over humanity's greatest enemy, death itself. He's not merely just a prophet or a miracle worker, he's the very son of God, the one promised through the pages of the Old Testament.Note the similarities between the two miracles. Both the petitioner here desires to be made well, and the word that's used in the Greek is salvation, to be saved. Both the petitioner falls at Jesus' feet, and both the person who is healed is called daughter.In the case of the daughter, the little girl had... In the case of the woman, she's been ill for 12 years, and the other, the girl, is 12 years old. The condition of the two female sufferers render them ceremonially unclean, the woman with her menstrual disorder and the other girl by death. In both cases, the uncleanness is boldly ignored, and in both cases, both the case of the woman who touches the garment of Jesus and when Jesus touches the girl's corpse, fear is mentioned in both and faith is a factor in both.Three points to frame up our time, or three sections. First, 12 years of misery end in eternal joy. Then, 12 years of joy end in temporary misery. Then, the question before us is eternal misery or eternal joy.First, 12 years of misery end in eternal joy. This is verse 21. "Jesus crossed again on the boat to the other side and a great crowd gathered about him. He was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly saying, 'My little daughter's at the point of death. Come, lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live,' and he came with him."Jesus left the shores of Capernaum to escape the crowds. In the interval, he calmed a raging storm and delivered a man from the grasp of a legion of demons. That was last week. Now he returns, and the swarm is there to greet him. We meet Jairus, who's one of the rulers of the synagogue. It's an honorific type bestowed on someone who has been distinguished through their service to the synagogue. This is a person who is respectable, substantial, of good... prominent, and moral.We see that not all the Jewish authorities were opposed to Jesus. In his homeland, this person's one of the Jewish leaders, and he has particular insight in who Jesus is. He's heard of Jesus' miracles. He sees Jesus. But he's not here as a spiritual leader, he's here as a desperate father. He's heard that Jesus can heal, and he comes to Jesus asking for healing. He's interceding for his daughter.Despite his high rank and his prestige in the community, he falls humbly at Jesus' feet, prostrated before the king, acknowledging, "Jesus, I'm helpless. I don't have the power that I need. I need your authority, and authority and a power greater than mine." He's probably taken significant risk to his reputation, but his desperation brings him to his knees. There was no other option.C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain, his famous quote is... He says, "We can ignore even pleasure, but pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasure, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."His little daughter is quite ill, at death's door with an unspecified malady. The father here is the first of three parents in the Gospel of Mark coming to Jesus, begging and imploring for healing. In all three cases, the sick can't do it for themselves, and it's a parent that steps up. It's a parent that intercedes.This is a reminder for every parent. Parents, one of our main jobs is to intercede for our children, to stand on our knees before the Lord and beg for their souls, and beg for their bodies, beg for their minds and ask the Lord to protect and bless. Jesus here listens to Jairus's plea and immediately goes to heal the daughter. As he went, the excited crowd goes with him, surrounds him, making it hard to walk.Verse 24: "A great crowd followed him, and thronged about him. There was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and spent all that she had and was no better but rather grew worse." Instead of alleviating her suffering, the doctors had only made it worse. It was a chronic bleeding that she experienced. Despite all of her most persistent efforts, she didn't get better. The illness became increasingly debilitating as she grew older and she spent all her money on a cure to know avail.Also, this illness makes her ceremonially unclean. She's in a perpetual state of uncleanness, meaning she is virtually ostracized from the community. She can't go to the temple. She can't go to the synagogue. Even being around her meant people were considered ceremonially unclean. It was a miserable condition.The secrecy with which she approaches Jesus shows that she knows that she shouldn't be out in public. She's violating a taboo. She too, like Jairus, believed that Jesus had the power to heal. And despite the crush of the crowd, she somehow manages to get close enough to reach out to him.I do want you to notice that the woman is at the opposite end of Jairus, as opposite as you can be, socially speaking, economically, religiously speaking. He's a male leader, she's a nameless woman. He's a synagogue official, she's ritually unclean and excluded from religious community. He has a family with a large household, she has spent all of her money trying to find a cure, impoverished by doctor's fees. How their fortune seemed to be suddenly reversed, his loss of time becomes her gain. The same crowd that slowed Jesus down toward his progress to Jairus's daughter gives her an opportunity to be healed.Verse 27, "She heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, 'If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." This moment of contact is grammatically highlighted here in the text. The verb "she touched" is the first finite verb after a series of seven participles. It's read, "And a woman being in a flow of blood for 12 years and having endured many treatments, having spent all her money on them, having not benefited but rather having gotten worse, having heard about Jesus," and then it says, "She touched his garment." The word touch here gains extraordinary intensity. This is the climax of the story.Although her uncleanliness was supposed to transfer to Jesus, the opposite here happens. His purity overpowers the disease. The idea of healing to be brought about by contact with a holy man's garments, we see this idea in the Old Testament. We see this even in the apostles, and the idea's presented all throughout scripture. In one instant, 12 years of pain just disappeared. 12 years of suffering disappeared. 12 years of humiliation, everything just changed in a second. She's healed.Verse 29, "Immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Jesus perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him immediately turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my garments?'"We know from text like Philippians 2 that Jesus' eternal glory and power were veiled in his human flesh. He did his earthly ministry not from his own power but from the power of the Holy Spirit. He voluntarily set aside divine attributes when he took upon himself the form of a servant. But despite his voluntary limitations, Jesus knew that God's power had gone out from him. He felt that this healing cost him something. It cost him some kind of power, some kind of spiritual energy, which is one of the reasons why we see him often escaping after a season of intense ministry where he loses spiritual power. He goes and he spends significant time with God, the Father, to recuperate in prayer.At this crucial point in the narrative, the focus suddenly shifts from the human perception of Jesus to Jesus' perception of humans. It's a switch in perspective that's often used particularly in the Epistle Galatians 4:9. "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God." From God's perspective, he does the knowing first.In Mark 5:31, "his disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing around, and yet you say, "Who touched me?"'" Are the disciples being dense or sarcastic? I think they're just focused on the mission in front of him. "Jesus, we have to get to this girl. Jesus, you see how important it is that Jairus's daughter gets healed. We know that delay can be fatal. So why are you asking this seemingly silly question?" Since the crowd was so large and people thronged from all sides, the disciples here are perplexed by the question.But Jesus won't let the woman just touch him and leave. Here you have to pause and say why. She had great faith. She got the miracle that she needed. But Jesus pauses everything and in a very public way has her speak. He wants to speak with her, and he wants her to confess the power of God that she just experienced.It's not enough for a believer to just believe in your heart. There's no such thing as an anonymous Christian. If you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord in your heart, the next step is you have to confess that he's Lord with your mouth, and this is what Jesus is doing. He doesn't just want to heal her body, he wants to heal her soul, so he says, "Who touched my garments?" Whenever Jesus asks a question, he's not looking for information. He's looking to elicit a confession. He wants her to speak.In verse 32, "He looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth." She comes in fear and trembling. Her heart was throbbing. Her eyes are tearing up. Would he take the cure away? Will she be punished for breaking the ceremonial law? Would he be angry that she made him unclean or that she tried to steal healing?Jesus here, like a skillful doctor, wounds in order to heal, and he does it tenderly. This is a costly confession to her. That's why she comes with fear and trembling. To speak before a crowd above such personal matters would be incredibly humbling. But humility is an essential part of the kingdom of God.She tells him the whole truth, a phrase that's used in judicial proceedings to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She's not ashamed to publicly testify that Jesus Christ did heal her.After her confession, Jesus turns to her in verse 34 and he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well go in peace and be healed of your disease." He calls her daughter. She's not related to him. Most likely we don't even know how much older he was than her, but he calls her daughter. He loves her with the heart of God, the Father.What he's communicating to Jairus, who's here, Jairus, who's enjoyed his daughter for 12 years, just 12 years of bliss, he says, "Jairus, in the same way that you have loved your daughter, cared for your daughter, in the same way that you are in pain because of your daughter's pain, I have felt the same over this woman. She is my daughter."The woman was healed because she touched Jesus with faith. She touched Jesus, believing that God could heal her, that this man wasn't just a man, that he was the son of God. For her, faith isn't just intellectual ascent. She knows that, "If I touch him, something will happen. I will be transformed."It's faith in Jesus or is it faith in God? Well, that's a false dichotomy. They come to Jesus, both Jairus and this woman, knowing that the power of God comes through Christ. He says, "Your faith has made you well. Your faith has saved you." The Greek says... It's a Greek word "sozo". Her bodily healing is a good picture of the healing of her soul, and that's why Jesus stopped her. Then he says to her, "Go in peace," which in the English peace is just the absence of strife or the absence of hostility. In the Hebrew, it comes from the word "shalom", which just means wholeness or soundness, holistic health. He says, "Go in this peace." After receiving the benediction, she does.The other reason why he has her publicly announced the healing is to welcome her back into the community. He announces this publicly so that the community knows she's no longer ceremonially unclean. She's been healed on a spiritual level, on a physical level. Now on a social level, he welcomes her back into the community.This story of the woman is our story. We have been, as believers, touched by the power of God, and we've been separated from the faithless crowd by our fearful and wonderful knowledge that Jesus Christ is God, Jesus Christ is Lord, and he has the power to save our souls.The second portion of our text is point two, 12 years of joy and in temporary misery. Verse 35, "And while he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?" This is the most absolute heart-wrenching news that a parent can hear. What parent has not sat 3:00 AM with a sick child begging the Lord, praying over them, "Lord, remove the fever"? What parent has not driven anxiously to the emergency room with a wounded or severely sick child?It's bad enough that she was sick, but now she's died. But knowing if Jesus had not been slowed down, he might've made it to the girl in time probably makes things worse. It seems like Jesus slowed down almost on purpose, almost like he did with Lazarus. He waited two days until Lazarus was surely dead before coming and resurrecting him. The time for emergency medical procedures passed. So why was Jesus wasting his time with this woman, having a conversation with her? Her illness wasn't life-threatening. Couldn't he just come back to her later as a sense of triage so amiss? Well, the answer to that is there's enough power of God to go around for all.My daughters were yesterday arguing, quibbling, quibbling is the word, over which holiday is the best. All three of the youngest landed on Christmas. Christmas is my favorite. Then they got an argument of like, "No, Christmas is my favorite. No, Christmas is my favorite." My response was, "It can be all of our favorites."This is access to the power of God. His power is not diminished by giving His power to one. It's not lessened to give it to another. Therefore, His timing is always contrary to our timing.Verse 36, but overhearing what they said, "Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, 'Do not fear, only believe.'" Jairus at this point must've been reeling. He must've been thinking, "Lord, take my life, not hers. Let me die instead of her." But Jairus had witnessed a miracle. He had witnessed the testimony of this woman. He witnessed how tender and compassionate Jesus was with her, and he had witnessed her faith, and that faith most likely inspired his faith.Jesus tells him, "Do not fear, only believe. Keep on believing." What he's saying is, "Ignore the reality that you're seeing. This isn't ultimate reality. This isn't all there is. What you see is not all there is. Ignore the |reality of death and clinging to Jesus' promise of resurrection."Jairus had believed that Jesus could heal his daughter. That's why he came to Jesus. But a resurrection, could Jesus really resurrect her? Jesus is calling Jairus to an even greater level of faith. Often, we do experience delays in life. It feels like when we ask for something from the Lord and it's just delay, delay, delay, sometimes it's easy to sit back and say, "I don't think the Lord loves me anymore." Jesus here is showing that his love is compatible with delays. His grace doesn't come on our timetable, therefore we're not supposed to impose our timetable on the Lord.For Jesus, there was no more problem to resurrect the girl than to cure the fever. Therefore, in times of delay, we are told to keep trusting. Do not fear, keep believing. We don't know all the facts. God does, therefore we are to trust him.2 Corinthians 4:17 says, "For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."Teresa of Avila says, "From eternity, the most miserable life in the history of the earth will look like one night in a bad hotel." From God's perspective, 1,000 years is but a day.Verse 37, "And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James." Jesus dismisses the crowds and instructs them to stay behind. He takes his three most important disciples. I'm calling them the big three from now. The big three are Peter, James, and John. He welcomes them in to see the resurrection. These three will be given a foretaste of Jesus' glory at the transfiguration. These three will be welcomed to pray with Jesus and share in his suffering at Gethsemane, so he welcomes them to go with him.Verse 38, "They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly, the families in shock." In Matthew's narrative, it's clear that professional mourners were hired and they were already brought in. In that context, you would hire mourners, wailers, and flute players who arrived. They communicated to the community of what had transpired.Verse 39, "When he had entered, he said to them, 'Why are you making commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.' They laughed at him, but he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was."The professional mourners, they know death. They're experts in death, therefore they laughed. "What are you talking about? Jesus, we know that she is dead." They laugh at Christ with derision. Jesus is using this metaphor of sleep to tell them that he is about to resurrect her. He is about to wake her up, so to speak. She's not dead but sleeping. Jesus is interpreting death from God's viewpoint.The purpose of this declaration is that death will not have the last word for God's people. God's people do not die. Physically, yes. But we, our soul, we continue living. Jesus puts all the scoffers outside and enters the room only with Jairus, his wife, and the three disciples, and the existence of a separate bedroom, for the girl is testimony to Jairus's wealth. Most Palestinian dwellings from this time were poor, one-room affairs.Verse 41, "In taking her by the ha nd, he said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise.'" Jesus never hesitates to contract ritual defilement by touching a leper or touching a dead person. Why? Because he's holy, and his holiness is overpowering. It's more contagious. It's more transmitting than the sickness.He says to her, "Talitha cumi," He speaks to her in Aramaic. This is interesting because Aramaic seems to have been the usual speech in the Jewish home, especially in Galilee. Greek was certainly the literary and cultural language. Hebrew was the religious language. But at home, the heart language was Aramaic. Aramaic was Jesus' heart language.The command "ephphatha" given to the mute man or when Christ was on the cross, he says, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is Aramaic, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He addresses God as Abba, father.The risen Lord spoke to Mary in her own language, in Aramaic, and that she turned and spoke to him in Aramaic, "raboni" , which means teacher. Jesus here speaks to this little girl in her heart language. "Talitha cumi." Little girl, wake up. Little girl, arise."Verse 42, "And immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was 12 years of age, and they were immediately overcome with amazement. He strictly charged that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat."Everyone was overcome with amazement. It was one thing for Jesus to calm the storm, it was something else for Jesus to cast out a legion of demons from the poor man in the text last week, but it's something altogether different for Jesus to resurrect this little girl. And he does so just by speaking. He's demonstrating that he is Lord of all, even death itself.I love this little detail at the end that he tells them, "Hey, feed her something," which for me shows... This is eyewitness account. Why in the world would you include that little detail that adds nothing to the progression of the narrative? Because it happened. Because Jesus doesn't even overlook, despite the commotion or practical need for food.That brings us to point three, eternal misery or eternal joy. Jesus here is more than a prophet. He's more than even Moses or Elijah. He's Lord of all creation. He speaks. He commands the winds and the seas. They all obey him. He is Lord even over Satan and his whole dominion. And now the people of Israel see that Jesus is Lord even over death. He is the one who has come to reverse, overturn the curse, undo the effects of the fall of Adam upon the human race.Jesus' mission wasn't just to come feed people, wasn't just to come teach people, wasn't just to come heal people. No. Jesus has come to deal with the root of all human suffering. He's doing things that the crowd does not understand. They're blinded by their immediate needs. They only see what Jesus can do for them.Jairus and the woman here are the exception. They approach Jesus not just with demands, but with faith, humble faith. They seek healing, but they also exercise faith in God. Jairus seeks help from Jesus. And when help does not come how he wants it to, he keeps trusting, he keeps believing. They come to him with faith that he is who he said he was.Even if the woman had not been healed, and even if Jairus' daughter had not been raised, they still would have believed that Jesus was sent by God and that God's will had been done even if the outcome was not what they wanted. This is the difference between faith and unbelief. Faith accepts the outcome regardless. Regardless of what happens, thy will be done, Lord.The great Bible teacher, G. Campbell Morgan, lost his firstborn daughter. Then 40 years later, preaching on the story of Jairus, he writes this: "I can hardly speak of this matter without becoming personal and reminiscent, remembering a time 40 years ago when my own first lassie lay at the point of death dying. I called for him then, and he came, and surely said to our troubled hearts, 'Fear not. Believe only.' He did not say she shall be made whole. She was not made whole on the earthly plane. She passed away into the life beyond."He did say to her, "Talitha cumi," little lamb, arise.' But in her case, that did not mean stay on the earth level. It meant that he needed her, and he took her to be with himself. She has been with him for all those years as we measure time here, and I've missed her every day. But his word, believe only, has been the strength of the passing years."Like Jairus and the woman who comes to Christ, we must also come to Christ in faith, faith that God is good and that God is loving, faith that he is the one whom God sent, Christ is. And he answers all of our prayers not necessarily according to our desires, and not necessarily according to our timing, but according to God's perfect and holy will.At times we may hear the glorious words, "The child is not dead," or we may hear the tragic words, "The child has died." But no matter what, faith accepts the will of God. Why? Because true saving, living faith understands that when Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the dead, he's pointing ahead to the end of the age when Jesus himself will heal all of our diseases and raise all of God's people from the dead.What happened would soon become common knowledge, but Jesus strictly charges them not to tell anyone. He is managing the messianic expectations of the crowds. There was much yet for Christ to do, and we see that the raucous crowd was already interfering in some ways.The word here when Jesus says arise is the same word that Christ uses talk about his own death, that Jesus was buried, that Jesus was dead, and he did rise from the dead. This right here is one of the greatest truths about Christianity, that we will all die. And if the Lord should tarry, after that comes the judgment. And we need someone to raise us from the dead, and we need someone to bring us through the judgment that we deserve.This little girl, she died twice, as did Lazarus. Then what? Then comes the judgment. Then we stand before God. God at that moment is going to tell us either you go into eternal joy, eternal bliss, or into eternal punishment. This is Matthew 25:46: "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." I wonder when's the last time you meditated on eternity. It just does not end. It's eternity. It's not a hundred years. It's not a thousand. It's not 10,000. It just does not end. It's either eternal life or eternal punishment.2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, "This is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering, since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed."Jesus Christ came because he understands that there is eternal suffering in the future of those who would turn from him. That's what every single one of us deserves. But Jesus came in order to provide salvation. He endured infinite misery to save us from eternal misery. Jesus doesn't suffer for all eternity because he is fully God with infinite glory and power. Jesus overcame eternal suffering by overpowering it with his infinite glory.Jesus, when the woman touched him, perceived that power had gone out from him. Well, that was a foretaste. It's a foreshadowing of what happened on the cross. The reason why this woman became clean and Jesus did not become unclean wasn't because the uncleanness disappeared in thin air. No, he took her uncleanness, and he took it upon himself to the cross. He bled like the woman. He came to become unclean in our place. He had to go into death like the girl so that she could be raised to life. He lost the father's hand on the cross. “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He lost the father's hand in order to be able to extend it to us.2 Corinthians 13:4, "For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God." With his humanity, Jesus endured the crucifixion. With his divinity, he endured eternal sufferings, our eternal sufferings, the eternal sufferings that we deserve."Jonathan Edwards in his 1729 sermon, The Sacrifice of Christ Acceptable, says this: "Though Christ's sufferings were but temporal, that is not eternal, yet they were equivalent to our eternal sufferings by reason of the infinite dignity of his person. Though it was not infinite suffering, yet it was equivalent to infinite suffering, for it was infinite expense. His blood which he spilled, his life, which he laid down was an infinite price because it was the blood of God, as it is expressly called."Acts 20:28, "The Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. His life was the life of that person that was the eternal Son of God, though it was the life of the human nature. Now upon this account, the priced offered was equivalent to the demerit of the sins of all mankind, and his suffering's equivalent to the eternal sufferings of the whole world."Christ suffered infinite suffering to save you, to save me from eternal suffering. How do we get that salvation? How do we get eternal life? How do we get our sins forgiven, the condemnation removed? All you have to do is reach out to Christ in faith. In faith, reach out, and touch him. Have that encounter. Believe that as you reach your hand is there, his hand is there grasp onto yours, and then his coursing healing power goes through your being.Faith takes hold of the power of God, and faith takes hold of His transforming power. This is what saves us. It's faith in Christ. He says, "Don't be afraid, just believe." There is a purifying power in the blood of the lamb of God. No matter what we've done, no matter the uncleanness of our sin, the uncleanness of our lawbreaking, all you have to do is ask for the Lord to purify you, and He will, and He does. All you need is need. All you need is recognition of your need.How much faith do you have to have in Jesus? Just enough to come, just enough to cry out to Christ, just enough to say, "Lord Jesus, have pity on me." The Lord is so gracious. He doesn't refuse anyone that comes to him and says, "Lord, help me."Even if your faith isn't perfect, even if you're brand new to the faith... There's a guy in the scripture that says, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." Even that is enough. Even that is enough to come and to be safe. So, come to Christ wherever you are, doubts and all, and he will begin the process of healing.At this point, I'm going to welcome a brother from the congregation, Brother Robert. Round of applause as he comes up. He's going to testify to the incredible work of God in his life and in his family's life, and just a testimony that God's power is real and he's still working amongst us today. Thank you, Robert.Robert:Morning, everyone. I'm here to share a testimony on behalf of my wife Carissa, my daughter Caitlin, and my son Thomas. For those who don't know me, my name is Robert. When I'm not here playing keyboard, I'm actually working in a biotech company. In fact, I have medical training as a surgeon. This is relevant because two years ago, the weekend of Thanksgiving, my daughter became very sick.It started the weekend of Thanksgiving. She had a party with her friends on the Friday. Saturday, she was a little tired. We thought she was recovering from the party. And on Sunday morning, she refused to get out of bed. While that's normal for a lot of teenagers, it wasn't normal for her. She was highly irritable. She just wanted to curl up and sleep. We felt concerned enough that we manhandled her into the car, took her to the emergency room. And amongst other things, they put a needle into her spinal cord, take some fluid, and it was bad news. They found white blood cells in her cerebral spinal fluid, and these cells presumably were there because of an infection that was affecting her brain.Her ventral diagnosis was something called viral encephalitis. This is where a random virus just affects your brain. It's random enough that it could be one of myriad viruses, and oftentimes you don't even detect which one. The most common viruses that cause this are the ones that cause mouth ulcers and chickenpox. But even then, it's incredibly uncommon. Happens to about one in a million people.I had the experience of actually treating a patient early in my career who suffered from this. He was a 20-something-year-old PhD student. Came into the ER because he had a fever that was so high it was affecting his brain, something called malignant hypothermia. He was rushed to the ICU. The next thing I heard, two days later, he was dead. That was going through my head the entire time Caitlin was diagnosed.Viral encephalitis has a mortality rate of about 30%. Of those people who don't make it, these patients who present late like Caitlin, because she was already quite symptomatic, that statistic gets even worse. The patients who actually do push through, the vast majority have lasting serious neurological issues. All these things were running through my mind as we were going through this.She was rushed to the ICU, had a huge number of tubes and leads hooked up to her. She was comatose. She was looking a lot less like Caitlin, and her body and face were puffing up due to inflammation and fluid retention. I was also thinking, "Did I doom her because we brought her in too late from the hospital?"At some level, I always thought through my training that I could deal with any medical situation with professionalism and dispassion. I now know I'm not able to do this. I was a broken man, devastated that my daughter was being stolen from me right in front of me and I was powerless to do anything about it.Pastors Jan and Shane came quickly when we called them. I'm sure Pastor Jan has his own story about what happened. I distinctly remember them walking into the ICU with great gentleness, knowing how grave the situation was. They also told us they usually ask for God's will to be done, but this time their sense was to pray for God's miraculous healing. I don't remember everything that we prayed about, but I do remember a distinct feeling that God was in the room and in control regardless of the outcome.A couple of hours after they left, Caitlin started discharging fluid like crazy. It was so sudden and so intense, the doctors worried about additional medical complications that could cause fluid imbalance. But her face started returning back to normal, and she showed the smallest hints of improvement, such as moaning a little when they were drawing blood.There was one particular moment when we were changing her IV fluids, and she muttered something, and I shouted at her, "Caitlin, hi." Miraculously, she pried her eyes open and said back, "Hi." That was the sweetest greeting I've ever heard.She spent four days in the ICU, another four days in the hospital ward. She missed over three weeks of school, but managed to return and still somehow managed a 4.0 GPA. She's now attending college. She's coming home next Tuesday for Thanksgiving. That will be celebrating two years since we almost lost her.I don't know how much of this experience was medical versus spiritual, but I do know that every fiber of my being was that Pastors Jan and Shane were vessels of a true miracle that happened that day. In addition, there was an absolute army of people praying for her, our community group, many of you here, were praying for her. Friends, and family, and neighbors across the US, Asia, and Australia. Literally hundreds of people covering her in prayer 24 hours a day. Prayer is powerful. Her neurologist and infectious disease specialists said that her rapid and complete recovery were incompatible with her disease, and I call that a miracle.One more thing. Caitlin liked to spend time in her room with the door just slightly ajar. When she was in the hospital, her door was open all the way, which was because we dragged her out of bed and got her to hospital. I was forced to close that door, since the open door reminded me that she was terribly sick and that she may not be able to come back home. Maybe that's similar to when Mary Magdalene saw the empty tomb, that someone took Jesus' body, which was an additional insult beyond his crucifixion. Right now, her room is wide open, and that's okay not necessarily because she returned to health. Her open door should symbolize God working for our good regardless of outcome.Her open room door is also a reminder that as great as Caitlin's miracle was, and even greater miracle is the empty tomb, Caitlin's salvation is just a hint of Jesus' redeeming power dying for all our sins and the pain, sickness, and suffering which are consequences of that sin. And he rose again that we could have ultimate hope for our own deliverance.The lesson in this storm is not just to appreciate God's ability to miraculously heal. The lesson is that whatever happened, it brought our family and this army of prayer warriors back to the heart of worship, and it helped us focus on God's sovereignty, provision, and redeeming power. Thanks for listening.

Title: “Faithful, No Matter the Cost” Part 2 Text: Acts 5:33-42 FCF: We struggle remaining faithful when it may cost us much to obey. Prop: Because God sovereignly determines the fate of His church and honors those who suffer for Him, we must remain faithful. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 5. In a moment we will read starting from verse 33. I'll be reading from the Christian Standard Bible. The text will start on 1235 in the pew bible. Last week we saw God's sovereign hand proving once again that He is able to deliver His church from any fate and equip them for what He has commanded them to do. Nevertheless, it is still the church's responsibly to obey and remain faithful no matter what the cost may be to them. It is difficult to know when you'll have a two-part sermon and when you won't. This week's sermon will serve as a continuation and expansion on all we discussed last week. We kind of left everything at a cliff hanger in the narrative. Peter has just responded to the three charges of the High Priest. His response was both to show that all three charges are invalid and also to present the gospel to the Sanhedrin as a whole. But we don't know yet, or at least those who haven't read ahead don't know yet what the outcome of Peter's defense will be. Today, we'll see what happens. Please stand with me both out of reverence for and to focus on the reading of God's Word. Transition: [Slide 2] Have you ever learned something much later in life than you should have? It is kind of embarrassing right? What is more embarrassing is when you have spent a good deal of energy and time defending something that turns out to be exactly the wrong thing. I very recently learned about the zipper method for a closed lane. I was always the guy getting irritated by the jerks speeding down the closed lane only to cut in front of everyone else. Then… I learned that the exact opposite was true. If you use both lanes up to the point that the lane is closed… and take turns entering the one open lane… it actually cuts traffic by as much as 40%. WOAH! And Whoops! This is just one example of many where we assume something works one way and it turns out to work the exact opposite. Today we'll see that in the Kingdom of God – things work much different than the kingdom of this world. And many times, like the zipper method, something we think is bad or terrible… is actually a great honor. Let's look and find out what it is. I.) God sovereignly oversees the fate of His church, so we must remain faithful. (33-39) a. [Slide 3] 33 – When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. i. Coming out of last week's sermon and hearing Peter give his rebuttal to their accusations, we might be a little perplexed by the Sanhedrin's reaction. ii. Peter, very clearly and concisely refuted their charges against the apostles and laid out why they were teaching in the name of Jesus. iii. In short, they were teaching in the name of Jesus because He is the next and final name of Judaism. iv. Like Moses, or Jacob, or Isaac, or Abraham before… now Jesus is the next and final funnel point of all of Judaism. All of Israel's history and indeed all of mankind's history funnels to the name of Jesus. v. To the extent that the only thing that matters any more is what you do with the name of Jesus. vi. God has raised Him, exalted Him, He is now the prince, the Savior and offers repentance and forgiveness to Israel. vii. But how could such an answer illicit such anger from the Sanhedrin? Shouldn't they have been overjoyed to hear that their Messiah had come? viii. The fact that they were enraged to the point of desiring to kill the apostles should remind us of their madness concerning Jesus at his 3 illegal Jewish trials. In reminding us of how they treated Jesus, it should also clue us in to what was going on in their minds. ix. The one thing that could have potentially stirred them to such rage that they desired the death of the apostles – was blasphemy. x. There is no question that what Peter said was either true or blasphemous. There really is no middle ground either. xi. Either Jesus was raised, elevated, and given authority and power, like the Son of Man prophesy from Daniel… xii. Or they are committing blasphemy. xiii. As mild and non-confrontational of a gospel presentation as Peter's was – it was not the messenger that was so enraging to them… it was the message. b. [Slide 4] 34 – But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while. i. So, the natural question that arises here is, who is this guy Gamaliel? ii. Gamaliel is mentioned only twice in the scriptures. He is mentioned here and also in Acts 22. 1. From Acts 22, we find Paul defending himself before the Jerusalem mob and identifying himself as a Jew who was thoroughly taught by Gamaliel in the law of Moses. 2. From extra biblical sources we understand that Gamaliel was the leader of a particular school of Old Testament interpretation within the Pharisee party. The school was called Hillel. The other school that opposed Hillel was the Shammai. iii. Other than that, we only have what is mentioned here. iv. We know that Gamaliel was a teacher of the law and was well respected by all the people. v. Perhaps even the Sadducees respected this man for his gifted teachings. vi. Him standing up in the Sanhedrin and ordering the apostles to leave the chamber for a time indicates that he was on the Sanhedrin council and held a good deal of influence, even though he was a member of the minority party. c. [Slide 5] 35 – He said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful about what you are about to do to these men. i. We see Gamaliel speak boldly to this council. ii. He warns them that they need to be careful about their actions going forward. iii. Why must they be careful? iv. A large part of the reason that they are where they are now is because they killed Jesus. This obviously didn't solve the problem of Jesus claiming to be who He was. v. Indeed, the church has ballooned to somewhere around 10,000 people in a matter of weeks. vi. Killing Jesus didn't help. In fact, the argument could be made… that it actually hurt. vii. Although Gamaliel does not cite this reason, where he goes next implies this historical event. viii. Gamaliel will take them to the recent history of other people who claimed to be important, gifted, or people sent from God. d. [Slide 6] 36 – Some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and came to nothing. i. Josephus records for us a man named Theudas who convinced a great number of people to go to the Jordan river where he promised to divide it and allow them to walk safely to the other side. ii. There are some irregularities with the chronology of Josephus' and Luke's accounts regarding both this example and the next. I don't have time to deal with it this morning but the next time we gather on a Wednesday night for bible study, we can get into it if you want. iii. Assuming Josephus and Luke are talking about the same person, Josephus describes this man as a charlatan. iv. And that is exactly Gamaliel's point. v. This man was killed, his followers scattered, and we haven't seen anything of him since. vi. Comparing this to Jesus of Nazareth… there is an obvious disconnect. The followers of Jesus grew rapidly in number after his death instead of dispersing. Perhaps this is indication that Gamaliel looked kindly on the Christians. But more likely, this is an ironic point that Gamaliel doesn't see but Luke does. vii. Gamaliel submits another point of evidence. e. [Slide 7] 37 – After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and attracted a following. He also perished, and all his followers were scattered. i. Gamaliel raises another example of another man who during the time of the census raised an insurrection. ii. From this we understand that the Sanhedrin were concerned with both religious purity and insurrection. The examples of Gamaliel prove as much. iii. Theudas rose up as a religious false teacher. iv. But this man named Judas from Galilee raised an insurrection. He was ultimately killed. His followers were scattered. v. And although Gamaliel doesn't say it – the implication is clear. vi. We have heard nothing from them since. vii. So now Gamaliel seeks to apply his 2 examples and the hidden third example in Jesus of Nazareth and his followers. f. [Slide 8] 38 – So, in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail; i. Gamaliel recognizes that the plans of men to lead others religiously astray or to overthrow power or influence, are ultimately doomed to failure. ii. Gamaliel recognizes and affirms the sovereignty of God in this. Mere men cannot undo what God has willed. iii. He makes the case here to let the apostles alone. To wait and see. To allow time to sort it out. iv. If they indeed are in doctrinal error and are leading an insurrection – and they are doing this in their own power and wisdom – they will be overthrown. v. And the implication is that God will providentially see to it that this happens. g. [Slide 9] 39 – but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.” i. But if not… ii. If God is at work here in this movement. If God is the one doing this – then the Sanhedrin will be powerless to stop it. iii. And worse… iv. If it is of God, they may actually find themselves opposing the will of God. v. The irony of course is that they have been opposing God this whole time. vi. Nevertheless, because of Gamaliel's argument… h. [Slide 10] They were persuaded by him. i. They were convinced. ii. Now what were they convinced of, that remains to be seen. We'll get to that in our next point. iii. But his advice is convincing. iv. They did nothing to stop Judas and Theudas… and yet in each example it came to nothing. v. Therefore, rather than killing the apostles and risking the fallout that could come of it – it seems much easier to simply let it run its course and hope it dies out. vi. The interesting thing here is that the Sadducean party as a whole would reject the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. So, either Gamaliel's particular packaging of his advice escaped their theological notice, or, more likely, the Sadducean party saw the wisdom of following the minority party's position. vii. It would be wise to unite against the apostles rather than divide. And it would be wise to not further alienate the people from them by rejecting both the apostles and the Pharisees. Remember the Pharisees were the people's party. viii. In fact, historically – the Sadducees often yielded to the minority party in the Sanhedrin council. There was no danger of them losing power except in the event of a people's revolt and the Romans replacing them with new leaders. ix. Their persuasion then has less to do with the strength of Gamaliel's logic and more to do with the fear of losing power. i. [Slide 11] Summary of the Point: Although it may seem like the themes Luke is giving to Theophilus are on repeat, we see once again the absolute sovereignty of God over the fate of His church. The apostles obey the Lord in spite of the cost. Because they obeyed it appeared certain that they would lose their lives. But in the providence of God, through the delicate workings of political intrigue, God saw to it that theology and politics collide to provide safe passage for His apostles. We see a parting of the red sea here. These two parties controlling the fate of the apostles divide to allow them to pass through. God sovereignly oversees the protection and provision of His church to accomplish His commands. Transition: [Slide 12 (blank)] So with God's sovereign hand, it looks like the apostles are going to get away Scot free again! Or… maybe not. Let's look. II.) God honors His church when He allows them to suffer for His name, so we must remain faithful. (40-42) a. [Slide 13] 40 – After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. i. Here we see the extent to which Gamaliel's counsel was received. ii. They were not convinced that the apostles may be correct. iii. They were not convinced to do nothing. iv. They were not convinced that their doctrine may be in error. v. They were not convinced that Jesus was any different than Theudas or Judas of Galilee. vi. They were merely convinced that they did not need to take the risk of killing these men and incurring upon themselves the people's rage and the Roman's displeasure. vii. They were convinced that the situation was not so dire as to need to throw away their own reputations or future power. viii. Gamaliel's advice simply convinced them that this was not a hill they needed to die on. ix. Remember the three charges they brought against the Apostles? 1. They disobeyed a direct command of the ruling party of Jerusalem 2. They filled Jerusalem with dangerous and blasphemous teaching 3. They were purposefully trying to get the people to lose respect for and distrust their leadership. x. Their response shows us that they did not budge on any of these charges. 1. They beat the apostles because they judged them guilty of disobeying a righteous order from the ruling body of the Jews in Jerusalem. a. This was not a tame punishment. b. They were permitted by the law to whip an individual 40 times. 40 was a number that was significant to the Jews. It signified the completion of punishment. It signified the end of exile. c. Since the law set the maximum of 40 whips – the Jews would often whip 40 minus one. The idea behind this is perhaps the one doing the whipping should lose count and accidentally whip the person 41 times. To be safe they whipped one less than the maximum. d. Such a whipping would have been extremely painful and most likely would have produced deep welts and even scars. Marks they would bear on their bodies for many days and possibly years. e. It was also a public event. All of Jerusalem would be able to see them being whipped like criminals. This would be a very shameful experience for the apostles. 2. They commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus because they judged them guilty of spreading dangerous teaching. Teaching that was in error. 3. The third charge the high priest issued was that they intended to rouse the people against them as murderers. We may be convinced that the Council releasing the apostles is an acquittal of that charge. But I would suggest to you that it is the opposite of that. a. They released them to secure their own reputation and influence among the people of Jerusalem. To keep them in prison or kill them would surely damage their honor among the people. For it would both go against the Pharisee position and the people who greatly favored the apostles. b. Releasing them is a calculated risk based on the logic of Gamaliel. That if the apostles are in error, as the council is sure they are, then they will eventually die out. c. In other words, releasing them is the only option they have to maintain their current influence over and respect they have from the people. xi. Christians on a cursory reading of Gamaliel's advice wonder if he was a believer or sympathetic to the Nazarean sect (which is what the Jews called Christians). But I hope I have made it clear enough that there is no reason to believe Gamaliel was a believer based on what he said here. xii. He is not defending the Apostles. He is defending the status quo. He is defending the reputation and authority of the Sanhedrin. He recognizes that they risk much here if they come down with too harsh a ruling. xiii. And I hope we see the hard hearts of the Sanhedrin. Peter gives what I see as a passionate and loving call of the gospel to them. Peter defends the actions of the apostles against all three of the charges brought against them. He does so without aggression. xiv. But the Sanhedrin still find them guilty on all counts. xv. The Sanhedrin are no longer ignorant murderers of their own Messiah my friends. They are knowingly hard-hearted deniers. They neither see their need to repent nor their need for forgiveness. xvi. They do not need a Prince or a Savior. They still would confess as they did on that day several weeks before… There is no King but Caesar. xvii. This is why the next time a member of the church is brought to trial before them… the tone of that gospel presentation is much more aggressive and condemning. We'll get there in chapter 7. b. [Slide 14] 41 – Then they went out form the presence of the Sanhedrin rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name. i. Let's deal with the back half of this verse first. ii. They were treated shamefully. They were disrespected. They were dishonored. iii. These statements in our culture ring somewhat hollow. We live in a guilt/innocence culture not an honor/shame culture. iv. To translate what happened here, the apostles went in knowing they had the truth, knowing they did nothing wrong, knowing they were completely right, and knowing that the Sanhedrin was ultimately selfishly motivated. v. But the outcome to this was that they were pronounced guilty and publicly punished as criminals. vi. That hits a little harder for us in the west. In essence it is saying the same thing but for eastern minds. To be publicly shamed by the Sanhedrin for their belief, is to discredit their belief and present them as undesirables. vii. And to be publicly humiliated for the sake of the Name. The CSB capitalizes this because it is obvious to whom this refers. viii. This is Jesus. The Messiah. The Prince. The Savior. They have received shame because of associating with and preaching in His name. ix. Now back to the beginning of the verse. x. They leave the Sanhedrin… rejoicing. Why? xi. They were counted worthy to share in the sufferings of Christ. xii. To be counted worthy is to be honored. Do you see how the economy of the Kingdom of God works? They received honor by being dishonored for the name of Christ. xiii. Doesn't that seem backward? And yet… there it is. c. [Slide 15] 42 – Every day in the temple, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. i. And there you have it. ii. The apostles did not break stride iii. They continued in the temple, in homes, every single day teaching believers and proclaiming the good news to unbelieving Jews. iv. And what is that good news? v. That Jesus is the Anointed one of God. He is the Son of Man. He is the Prince. The Savior. The Prophet greater than Moses. The Priest who did not need His own sacrifice. The Eternal King promised to David's line. vi. He is the funnel of all Judaism. All must believe in Him to be saved. vii. As the ark was the funnel to save all humanity so Jesus is the funnel to save all the Jews. As all men outside the ark died, so all Jews outside of Christ are no longer God's people. viii. That is why this is a message of hope… there is no further need for sacrifice. No further need for Military might. No further need for new revelation. ix. It… as Jesus said… is finished. d. [Slide 16] Summary of the Point: As a piggyback off of the previous point, to carry us a further step. It is absolutely true that God has sovereign rights to protect His church, but when he doesn't and He allows His own to suffer… it is a gift of blessing and honor to His church. We don't naturally see it that way do we? The apostles rejoiced. And not because they were looking at what could have happened to them and were thankful it didn't happen. No! Luke tells us plainly why they rejoiced. They rejoiced because they were counted worthy, they were honored, they were favored… to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name of Jesus. When God allows His church to suffer for His name, it is an honor to them. Conclusion: So CBC, let's do the work to narrow down these two points into one doctrinal takeaway this morning. What have we learned and how shall we live? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 17] Combining together the fact that God exercises sovereign control over all that comes upon His church with the idea that when God allows His church to suffer for His name it is an honor, we come away with the truth that as God's people, there is absolutely no reason for us to fear what men may do to us. Not only can they not harm us if God does not allow them, but if they are able to harm us for His name's sake – then it is a gift of honor and blessing from God to us in that we share in the sufferings of Christ. What does that mean? It means that we are without excuse for obeying the Lord and remaining faithful to Him… no matter the cost. But let us improve on this doctrinal takeaway. Let us make plain what it is we must take from this passage to think and live rightly before our God in this world. 1.) [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that it is an honor from a sovereign God to be counted worthy to suffer for His name. a. Wow this is not what we naturally believe. b. This is, in fact, the crux of the whole book of Job. c. It was GOD'S idea for Satan to go after Job. It was God's hand that removed protection from Job. It was God that allowed up to the point of death, everything else to be taken from him. d. Why? e. Because God saw him as His servant, and there was none like him on the face of the earth. He was a righteous man. f. Job had his own lessons to learn, and some humbling to undergo, by in the end – he was more than vindicated. He was honored above and beyond what he was when he began. He wondered if it was better for him to not have been born. Yet in the end he fared better than he had been before. g. Every single apostle suffered for the name of Christ. Almost every single prophet suffered for God. h. And we, as Kingdom citizens, we look at them with great respect and great honor. For they gave all for the cause of Christ. i. God who is sovereignly in control of all things could have prevented their suffering. But He counted them… worthy. j. Worthy to suffer for his name. k. We must change our perspective my friends. l. For all the people who consider it a great blessing to be financially provided for, or to have many children, or to have a large family – my friends… on that list of blessings… does suffering for the name of Jesus appear? m. Most of us, I'd dare say, would put suffering for Jesus in a different category. Certainly, we would not see it as a blessing. n. Perhaps someday soon… some of us will suffer for His name. It is time that we confess and believe that it is an honor from God to suffer for the name of His Son. 2.) [Slide 19] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that God never desires His church to suffer. a. There is a teaching prevalent in some charismatic circles. b. It takes on several forms but generally speaking it encourages the hearers to believe that it is always Gods will to heal them, give them abundant wealth, and vibrant prosperity. c. They are not only taught to pursue this, but assured that if they are faithful to God – He WILL give them these things. d. Their leaders are typically very wealthy and prosperous – although they are not always healthy. e. My friends this text absolutely decimates such teaching. f. Indeed, the bible as a whole decimates this teaching. g. God's most faithful people have suffered all manner of abuses throughout the course of human history. h. Many of the Old Testament prophets were tortured and killed. All 12 disciples were treated very poorly and most of them martyred. i. Jesus, the Son of God, in whom the Father said, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased!” was crushed for our iniquities. If it was the Father's will to crush His beloved Son… we must never assume that God could not will something similar for us. j. Even today the church suffers great persecution in many places around the world. k. It is simply untenable to believe that God always wants His church to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous. l. Instead, Jesus said, you will have trouble. Instead, entire books are written in the New Testament on how to endure suffering. m. Instead, here, it is an honor to suffer for the name of Christ. n. My friends, it is not always God's will for you to be healthy, wealthy, or prosperous. But it might be God's will for you to suffer for His name. And if that is God's will for you… then you are honored above those who never suffer for Him. For you were counted worthy to share in the sufferings of Christ. 3.) [Slide 20] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must remain faithful to obey all that God has commanded in spite of what it may cost us. a. Since the worst men can do to us is grant us honor for suffering for His name… and since God ultimately decides what happens to us… b. We must remain faithful to the Lord. c. We don't have any excuse. And we have nothing to lose. d. There is nothing God asks of us that costs too much. Nothing to which the price is too steep to obey. e. This short application brings us quickly to what we must stop doing… 4.) [Slide 21] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must not fear what men may do to us. a. We are in good hands. The strong and mighty hands of our loving Lord. b. He will not allow us to fall unless He considers us worthy to fall. He will not allow us to die unless He has appointed that time for us. c. This doesn't give us license to throw away our lives… but it does give us confidence that God will uphold us as we face uncertainty in obedience to His commands. d. What can men do to us? Shall they take away all we hold dear? It was never truly ours in the first place. Shall they remove our health, our wealth, our prosperity – all have been gifts from God that He has every right to remove from us. e. Shall they take our very lives? The sting of death is gone. f. For us to live is for Christ and to die is to our gain. g. We are honored in suffering for Him. h. Fear has no place when we believe these things my friends. i. We can boldly do as God has commanded. For He has us. j. And that leads us to comfort. 5.) [Slide 22] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” All things happen as God has willed them to happen. a. Our God never sleeps b. Our God never slumbers c. Our God always watches d. Our God always holds us e. Our God's will cannot be thwarted f. Our God's timing cannot be changed g. Our God's ways are perfect h. Our God's plan is still plan A. i. My friends… when all that happens is in the will of God. We can take great comfort in and even rejoice in all that happens to us. Thanking Him for all the good… and rejoicing in all the suffering. j. He has made this very day and all that is in it. And even if today we die… Today is a good day. k. We need not fear… instead, we must be content and at peace. l. God is good always. And always, God is good. [Slide 23] Let me close with a Puritan Prayer. Let's pray My God You have helped us to see that whatever good be in honor and rejoicing, how good is He who gives them and can withdraw them; That blessedness does not lie so much in receiving good from and in you, but in holding forth your glory and virtue; That it is an amazing thing to see in a creature your Deity speaking, acting, filling, shining through it; That nothing is good but you, that we are near good when we are near you, that to be like you is a glorious thing; This is our magnet, our attraction. You are all our good in times of peace, our only support in days of trouble, our one sufficiency when life shall end. Help us to see how good your will is in all, and even when it crosses ours teach us to be pleased with it. Grant us to feel you in fire and food and every providence and to see that your many gifts and creatures are but your hands and fingers taking hold of us. You, bottomless fountain of all good, we give ourselves to you out of love - for all we have or own is yours; our goods, family, church, self, to do with as you will, to honor yourself by us and by all that is ours. If it be consistent with your eternal counsels, the purpose of your grace, and the great ends of your glory, then bestow upon us the blessings of your comforts; But if not, let us resign ourselves to your wiser determinations. In Jesus name we pray… Amen. [Slide 24 (end)] For the last several weeks we have been shown in the book of Acts that God is actively providing, empowering, enabling, protecting, provisioning, growing, spreading, and guiding His church. Though it may be His will that we will suffer for His name, we have the promise that He will never leave us and that suffering for His name is an honor to us. Today, we celebrate the Lord's Supper. A feast designed to communicate all of this to us. That in the bread the Lord Jesus comes to us as the curtain torn to give us unlimited access to the very throne room of God. That we can come boldly to His throne to receive mercy and find grace for help in a time of need. In the cup we find our washing deluge of the blood of Christ. The crimson ink that signed the New Covenant into effect. The will and testament initiated upon His death to bring us intimate peace and love with God. In the Lord's Supper we find that our Lord has never left us. That He is still with us. We find Him there and we eat of the atonement which His body and blood purchased for us. We are sustained by His promises to safely transport those who believe to eternal life. In the Lord's Supper, by faith, we eat and drink the truth of the book of Acts. That God is with us still. Though Christ ascended… He has not left us. Though He is at the Father's right hand, He is our mediator there. He is our advocate. Though He is physically there for us, we may eat of Him spiritually here and live on Him. As the Israelites lived on bread from heaven… we too are sustained by bread that is from heaven. As the Israelites' thirst was quenched by water that flowed from a rock, so too we are satisfied and sustained by the blood that flowed from The Rock of our salvation. At this time the praise team will come up and close out the service with the song Communion. After the song is finished… the praise team will play it again. That will be your cue to make your way upstairs for the Lord's Supper celebration. If you are a believer, who is not actively holding on to a sin that you will not forsake, who sees the Lord's Supper as a means He uses to strengthen and sustain us… then I invite you to join us. If you are missing any of those, I'd encourage you to not partake today. If you are not partaking and not attending, I'd encourage you to leave quietly and not distract any who are approaching the table this morning. So go ahead and stand with us as we sing.

     When God the Son added perfect humanity to Himself, this enabled Him to experience suffering and death with, and on behalf of, humanity. The suffering of Christ may be viewed in at least two ways: 1) His suffering during His time on earth prior to the cross, and 2) the suffering of the cross. As the God-Man, Jesus was perfectly holy in all His thoughts, words, and actions. Such perfect holiness brought with it a special form of suffering in this world that the rest of us could never know, since we are capable of yielding to the pressures of sinful temptation. When the time of His death was nearing, Jesus told His disciples “that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day” (Matt 16:21; cf., Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22). It's noteworthy that Jesus said His suffering, dying, and resurrection were things that “must” happen to Him. The use of the Greek verb dei (δεῖ) here denotes divine necessity, which meant it was the will of God the Father that these things happen to Christ. Thomas Constable notes, “Jesus said that it was necessary (Gr. dei) for Him to go to Jerusalem. He had to do this because it was God's will for Messiah to suffer, die, and rise from the dead. He had to do these things to fulfill prophecy (Isa 53; cf. Acts 2:22–36).”[1] The absolute necessity of Jesus' death on the cross further emphasizes our helplessness to save ourselves, for if our salvation could have been secured by any other means, then the death of Christ would have been unnecessary.      While in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to God the Father, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matt 26:39). In His humanity, Jesus struggled to face the cross, understanding the scope of what it meant and the agony associated with it. Jesus prayed a second time, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matt 26:42). The reference to the “cup” speaks of the suffering of the cross. John A. Witmer states, “In the Old Testament a ‘cup' sometimes symbolized wrath (Jer 25:15), and so Jesus was aware that His coming death meant He would bear the wrath of God the Father against sin. Though Christ had no sin (2 Cor 5:21), He bore the sins of the world on Himself (1 Pet 2:24). Thus He was made ‘a curse for us' because of His being hanged on a tree (Gal 3:13).”[2]      While on the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46). This was the cry of Jesus from His humanity. Peter tells us that Jesus “Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Pet 2:24). Peter's reference to Jesus' “body” indicates humanity, not deity. Sin cannot be imputed to deity. Humanity can bear sin. It was while Jesus was on the cross that He bore the wrath of the Father as He died in our place and bore the punishment that rightfully belongs to us. And the Spirit sustained Jesus' humanity while He bore our sins. Robert G. Gromacki states, “God the Son incarnate suffered and died. The Father did not suffer and die. Nor did the Holy Spirit suffer and die, even though He filled Christ when the Savior suffered and died.”[3] The suffering and death of Jesus on the cross was salvific, as Jesus was made “sin on our behalf” (2 Cor 5:21). Mark wrote, “When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'” (Mark 15:33-34; cf., Matt 27:45-46; Luke 23:44-46). Concerning this moment on the cross, Witmer states, “It was at this point, as Jesus bore the sin of the world, that God, the Judge of sin, turned away from Jesus Christ, His incarnate Son, the Sin-bearer, as far as the personal consciousness of Jesus was concerned.”[4] But there is some mystery at work here, for God the Father could not forsake God the Son, as a separation within the Trinity is not possible. Yet, somehow, the humanity of Christ—not His deity—was forsaken at the time of the judgment on the cross, otherwise the words of Jesus would be meaningless. But Jesus' suffering and death did happen, and it was His time on the cross that brought about our salvation; a salvation that is applied to us at the moment we trust in Christ as our Savior.      Even after Jesus' resurrection, Jesus said to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26). In the book of Acts, Luke records that Jesus “presented Himself alive after His suffering” (Acts 1:3). Peter said, “the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled” (Acts 3:18). And Paul reasoned “from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead” (Acts 17:2b-3; cf., Acts 26:23). Jesus' suffering and death were necessary for salvation to be available to humanity.  The Cross & Crucifixion      The cross overshadowed the life of Jesus, and He knew dying for lost sinners was the ultimate purpose of the Father. When facing the cross, Jesus said, “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour ‘? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:27). For lost sinners, the cross of Christ is both personal and purposeful. It is personal, because “Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8), “for our sins” (1 Cor 15:3), and “not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). And His death was purposeful, as Christ “died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18), and that we might “reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom 5:10). The cross is God's righteous solution to the problem of sin, as well as His greatest display of love toward sinners. At the cross, God judged our sin as His righteousness required, and pardons the sinner as His love desires. To understand the cross of Christ is to understand the heart of God toward a fallen world He wants to save.      The word “cross” translates the Greek noun stauros (σταυρός), which refers to “a pole to be placed in the ground and used for capital punishment, cross.”[5] The word “crucify” translates the Greek verb stauroō (σταυρόω), which means, “to fasten to a cross, crucify.”[6] Crucifixion was practiced by ancient cultures such as the Egyptians (Gen 40:19), Persians (Est 7:10), Assyrians and Greeks. By the time of Christ, the Romans had used crucifixion as a means of death more than previous cultures. According to John Stott: "Crucifixion seems to have been invented by “barbarians” on the edge of the known world and taken over from them by both Greeks and Romans. It is probably the most cruel method of execution ever practiced, for it deliberately delayed death until maximum torture had been inflicted. The victim could suffer for days before dying. When the Romans adopted it, they reserved it for criminals convicted of murder, rebellion or armed robbery, provided that they were also slaves, foreigners or other nonpersons."[7]      Just prior to crucifixion, a person was scourged with a whip which had thongs that were braided with sharp objects such as nails. As an act of public humiliation, criminals carried their own cross to the place of execution, and once there, were stripped naked before being fastened to the cross, either with rope or nails. Being tied to a cross with ropes was less painful in the beginning, but would leave the victim to hang for a longer period of time, even days, which would make the experience more painful in the end. Some who were tied to the cross are recorded to have lasted for nine days. Nailing a person to a cross was more painful from the beginning and would have led to a quicker death. The body would hang between three to four feet from the ground. Sometimes a soporific was given to the victim to help numb the senses. In Jesus case, it was “wine mixed with myrrh” (Mark 15:23), which our Lord rejected because it would have clouded His thinking (Matt 27:34). In some situations the Romans would break the victim's legs which would hasten death, but according to Scripture, Jesus was already dead by the time the soldiers considered doing this (John 19:32-34). Unger notes, “In most cases the body was allowed to rot on the cross by the action of the sun and rain or to be devoured by birds and beasts.”[8] We know that Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, came to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body, that he might bury it, and Pilate granted his request (Matt 27:57-60). It's most likely that Jesus was crucified in April, AD 33.[9]      The cross of Christ became central to the message of the gospel. The apostle Paul was sent by the Lord Jesus “to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void” (1 Cor 1:17). Paul was not concerned with human sophistry, winning arguments, or impressing his audience by means of rhetorical prowess, but merely with presenting the simple message of the cross of Christ, which brings eternal salvation to those who trust in Jesus as their Savior. Paul continued his line of reasoning, saying, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God...[and] we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:18; 23-24). Paul summarized his message when he said, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). The image of a crucified Savior seems entirely foolish to a world that creates its saviors out of strong heroes; strong in the human sense of one who can save himself and others. Jesus is certainly strong; after all, He's God! And He does save forever those who come to Him in faith. Dr. Steven R. Cook   [1] Tom Constable, Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Mt 16:21. [2] John A. Witmer, “Jesus Christ”, Understanding Christian Theology (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003), 352. [3] Robert G. Gromacki, “The Holy Spirit”, Understanding Christian Theology (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003), 468–469. [4] John A. Witmer, “Jesus Christ”, Understanding Christian Theology, 352. [5] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 941. [6] Ibid., 941. [7] John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2006), 29. [8] Merrill Frederick Unger et al., “Cross”, The New Unger's Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988), 264. [9] See Harold Hoehner's book, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, pages 95-114.

     At a point in time, the eternal Son of God added humanity to Himself, simultaneously becoming God and man, Creator and creature, the unique theanthropic person (John 1:1, 14, 18; 8:58; 10:33; 20:28; Col 2:9; Heb 1:8). Jesus is the God-man and exists in hypostatic union, as a single Person with a divine and human nature (John 1:1, 14; 1 John 4:2-3), both natures being distinct and preserved, not mixed or confused, fully God and fully man. The hypostatic union is forever, from conception onward. Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary (parthenogenesis – Isa 7:14; Matt 1:23; Luke 1:26-38), who is the mother of Jesus' humanity (Christotokos – bearer of Christ). Some see Mary as the mother of God (Theotokos – bearer of God), and though Jesus is God, His divine nature is without origin and eternal. Being the mother of Jesus' humanity honors Mary without elevating her to a place beyond what the Scriptures teach. And Jesus was a Jew, born a son of Abraham, in the line David (Matt 1:1), the promised Messiah (Matt 1:17). Jesus grew in wisdom (Luke 2:40, 52), and lived a perfectly righteous life before God and man. The record of Scripture is that Jesus “knew no sin” (2 Cor 5:21), was “without sin” (Heb 4:15), “committed no sin” (1 Pet 3:22), and “in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). In His humanity, Jesus walked in perfect conformity to God the Father's holy character and divine revelation. Cults such as Mormonism and Jehovah's Witness deny the full humanity and deity of Jesus, and for this reason are not within the true Christian community. Thiessen states: "The Council of Chalcedon, in AD 451, established what has been the position of the Christian church. There is one Jesus Christ, but He has two natures, the human and the divine. He is truly God and truly man, composed of body and rational soul. He is consubstantial with the Father in His deity and consubstantial with man in His humanity, except for sin. In His deity He was begotten of the Father before time, and in His humanity born of the virgin Mary. The distinction between the natures is not diminished by their union, but the specific character of each nature is preserved and they are united in one person. Jesus is not split or divided into two persons; He is one person, the Son of God."[1] His Deity      The Bible presents Jesus as God. In the OT, the proper name of God is Yahweh (יהוה) and is generally translated LORD, using all capital letters. When the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT) was written around 250 B.C., the translators chose the Greek word kurios (κύριος) as a suitable substitute for the Hebrew name Yahweh (יהוה). Though kurios (κύριος) is sometimes used in the NT to mean sir (John 4:11; Acts 16:30), and master (Col 3:22), it is also used to refer to the deity of Jesus Christ (compare Isa 40:3 with John 1:23; and Deut 6:16 with Matt 4:7; cf. John 20:28; Rom 10:11-12; Phil 2:11). According to Thiessen, “Although the second person of the trinity often appears in the Old Testament, He is never referred to as Christ. Instead, we have the names Son, Jehovah, and the angel of Jehovah. In Psalm 2:7 Jehovah calls him His Son. More frequently He is called Jehovah.”[2]The NT writers clearly saw Yahweh-God from the OT as referring to Jesus.      Concerning the NT evidence, the apostle John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14). And “the Word” which became flesh also existed with the Father “before the world was” (John 17:5). The Jews of Jesus's day understood His claims to deity, that He “was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). On another occasion they said to Jesus, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God” (John 10:33). The apostle Thomas, after seeing the resurrected Jesus, said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Paul wrote of Jesus, saying, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col 2:9), and elsewhere said that He is “our great God and Savior” (Tit 2:13). And the writer to the Hebrews said of Jesus, “But of the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever'” (Heb 1:8).      As God, Jesus created the universe, for “He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:2-3). And Paul wrote, “For by Him [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col 1:16-17).      As God, Jesus accepted the worship of men and angels. The magi who came to see the newborn Jesus said, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him” (Matt 2:2), and “after coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him” (Matt 2:11a). On three separate occasions the disciples worshipped Jesus. Matthew wrote, “And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘You are certainly God's Son!'” (Matt 14:33), “And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him” (Matt 28:9), and “When they saw Him, they worshiped Him” (Matt 28:17a). And after Jesus healed a lame man, we are told “he worshiped Him” (John 9:38). And of the angels it is written, “Let all God's angels worship him” (Heb 1:6). It follows that Jesus is God, since only God can receive worship. Walvoord states, “In any orthodox statement of the doctrine of the Trinity, the second Person is described as possessing all the attributes of the Godhead, being distinguished as the second Person in contrast to the first or third Persons of the Trinity and as the eternal Son in contrast to the Father or the Holy Spirit.”[3] Hypostatic Union      The apostle John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14). At a point in time, God the Son added to Himself humanity, forever uniting His divine nature with a perfect sinless human nature, becoming the God-man (John 1:1, 14, 18). In the field of systematic theology, this is called the hypostatic union. Chafer states, “Though His deity is eternal, the humanity was gained in time. Therefore, the theanthropic Person—destined to be such forever—began with the incarnation.”[4] God the Son did not indwell a human, but forever added humanity to Himself. According to Paul Enns, “When Christ came, a Person came, not just a nature; He took on an additional nature, a human nature—He did not simply dwell in a human person. The result of the union of the two natures is the theanthropic Person (the God-man).”[5] Reading through the Gospels, there were times that Jesus operated from His divine nature (Mark 2:5-12; John 8:56-58; 10:30-33), and other times from His human nature (Matt 4:2; Luke 8:22-23; John 19:28). Concerning both natures, Paul Enns wrote: "The two natures of Christ are inseparably united without mixture or loss of separate identity. He remains forever the God-man, fully God and fully man, two distinct natures in one Person forever. Though Christ sometimes operated in the sphere of His humanity and in other cases in the sphere of His deity, in all cases what He did and what He was could be attributed to His one Person. Even though it is evident that there were two natures in Christ, He is never considered a dual personality. In summarizing the hypostatic union, three facts are noted: (1) Christ has two distinct natures: humanity and deity; (2) there is no mixture or intermingling of the two natures; (3) although He has two natures, Christ is one Person."[6]      Jesus is the God-Man. He is eternal God (Isa 9:6; John 8:56-58), yet He was born of a woman in time and space (Gal 4:4). As God, He is omniscient (Psa 139:1-6), but as a boy, He grew in knowledge (Luke 2:52). As God, He created the universe (Gen 1:1; John 1:3; Col 1:15-16), but as a man, He was subject to weakness (Matt 4:2; John 19:28). Walvoord notes, “When the second Person of the Godhead became incarnate there was immediately introduced the seemingly insuperable problem of uniting God with man and combining an infinite and eternal Person with one that is finite and temporal.”[7] Concerning the complexity of the union, Lewis Chafer states: "The reality in which undiminished Deity and unfallen humanity united in one Theanthropic Person has no parallel in the universe. It need not be a matter of surprise if from the contemplation of such a Being problems arise which human competency cannot solve; nor should it be a matter of wonder that, since the Bible presents no systematized Christology but rather offers a simple narrative with its attending issues, that the momentous challenge to human thought and investigation which the Christ is, has been the major issue in theological controversy from the beginning to the present time."[8]      As finite humans, we struggle to comprehend the union of God and Man; however, it is with certainty that the Bible portrays Him this way (John 1:1, 14; 20:28; Heb 1:8 cf. Luke 1:31-33; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15), and this truth is essential to Christianity.  As God, Jesus is worthy of all worship and praise (Luke 24:51-52; John 9:38; 20:28; Heb 1:6). As a perfect sinless Man, He went to the cross and died a substitutionary death in our place (Mark 10:45; Rom 5:6-10; 1 Cor 15:3-4; 1 Pet 3:18), and bore the wrath of God that rightfully belongs to us (Isa 53:1-12), so that we might have the gifts of righteousness and eternal life (John 3:16; 10:28; 2 Cor 5:21; Phil 3:9). Dr. Steven R. Cook   [1] Henry Clarence Thiessen and Vernon D. Doerksen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 208. [2] Ibid., 209. [3] John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord (Chicago, Ill; Moody Press, 1969), 106. [4] Lewis S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1993), 383. [5] Paul P. Enns, Moody Handbook of Theology, (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1989), 227. [6] Paul P. Enns, Moody Handbook of Theology, 225. [7] John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord (Galaxie Software, 2008), 107. [8] Lewis S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, 387.

"Though Christ has undertaken this victory, yet he accomplishes it by training us up to fight his battles" - Richard Sibbes | 2 Samuel 21:15-22

What would you say would be a parent's worse nightmare? Sure, there can be many relevant responses to this uncomfortable question. Imagine though, instead of wrestling with a, heretofore, abstract concept, that this became your reality. Without warning, without preparation (or so one might think).Mandy and Jory share their experience, their strength in Christ and their hope for eternal life through the power of Christ because of His atonement.Alma 7:11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.You DO NOT want to miss this!

Today we consider a challenging text.  The "murder of the innocents," as it is called, is a horrific thing to imagine.  While this particular event may seem distant, happening so long ago in a distant land, we continue to live in a world full of suffering and injustice.  Sometimes it even comes close to home.  Though Christ is born, the world has not changed in this regard.  Though we have welcomed Christ in our lives, they too are not immune from trouble and trial.  Our text reminds us that even while such thing persist, God remain in our midst and his purposes for our world and lives stand unthwarted.  

You can not separate love from God. It is safe to say that love is the trademark of God visible for all to see. The Bible confirms this truth by saying that, God is love. The Bible says that God so much loved the world that He gave His only Son to die for her (John 3:16). It was not only the Father that loved us but also Christ. The Bible says that Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. John 15:13 NKJV. Though Christ could have denied us, yet He took our sins on His body because of His love for us.

Learn about one woman's great faith, and Jesus’ greater compassion and power! - Sermon Transcript - Usually when I begin preaching week after week as we're moving through the Gospel of Mark, I tell you to open in your Bibles to the text that you just heard read. I'm going to say, open your Bibles to Mark 7: 24-30. But I'm also going to urge you to put your finger over in Matthew 15:21-28 if you'd like, because I'm going to be moving back and forth between these two accounts. God in his grace gave us four gospels. The four gospels, all of them are perfect and three of them, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called synoptic because they run over often basically the same material, but in different ways. My desire always is to accept them as an errant, as perfect and flawless and necessary and helpful. Sometimes, I just take Mark's account and just walk through it, and that's certainly fine. Today, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to be harmonizing the account of this encounter with the Canaanite woman, the Syrophoenician woman from both Matthew 15 and Mark 7. This is a story of a mother's humble and persistent faith because of which Jesus unleashes unlimited power, great faith, and greater power. We're called on in the text to marvel at her faith and to learn from it, but even more we are summoned by the text to join her in falling at Jesus's feet and beseeching him by faith for every blessing that He alone can bestow. We're looking in two directions this morning as we look at this text. We're looking at the woman to learn from her faith and at the Savior to worship him for his wisdom, grace and power. Jesus is always the main point, always. This woman is in a desperate plight. Her little daughter is demon possessed. The horror of that affliction is overwhelming and her spiritual condition is terrible. She's a pagan living in a pagan land, but she turns away from all of the idols of her paganism and her pagan heritage to Christ. She knows that He alone can save her daughter, and she cries out to him desperately and persistently for his mercy on her little girl. Some of you may be in a desperate plight yourselves this morning, not anything perhaps like this woman, but maybe you are hurting deeply in some affliction in your life and God brought you here to join with this woman and imitate her faith. Of course, you won't be saved at all from looking at the woman, ultimately. She can't save you, but Jesus can. This account calls on you to see Jesus, to drink in his nature, specifically his compassion and power anew and trust in him alone. When I was a new Christian, a friend of mine, the guy who had led me to Christ, gave me a copy of a book that has continued to be precious to me. It was a devotional written by Charles Persian called Morning and Evening. Some of you have used it before. In Morning and Evening, it's throughout the calendar, January 1st, December 31st with a reading for the morning and reading for the evening. In that, he deals with this story twice. In the over 700 devotional that he gives, he deals with her twice. He spoke first in Matthew's account about the fact that in this encounter between the Canaanite woman and Jesus, "He did not answer her a word.” He began by not saying anything to her at all, just ignoring her, it seems. She's desperately begging Jesus to heal her daughter and He ignores her like she doesn't even exist. Spurgeon picked up on that and meditated on it, and I want to read from him and quote from him, extensively. "Genuine seekers who as yet have not obtained the blessing may take comfort in the story before us. The Savior did not at once bestow the blessing, even though the woman had great faith in him. He intended to give it, but he waited a while. He answered her not a word. Were not her prayers good? Never better in the world. Was not her case needy? Sorrowfully needy. Did she not feel her needs sufficiently? Oh, she felt it overwhelmingly. Was she not an earnest enough? Oh, she was intensely so. Had she no faith? She had such a high degree of faith that Jesus was amazed and said, ‘Oh woman, great is your faith.’ See then, although it is true that faith brings peace, yet it does not always bring it instantly. There may be certain reasons calling for the trial of faith rather than for the reward of faith. Genuine faith may be in the soul like a hidden seed, but as yet, it may not have budded and blossomed into joy and peace. A painful silence from the Savior is the trial of many seeking soul, but heavier still is the harsh cutting reply such as this, ‘It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs.’ Many in waiting upon the Lord find immediate delight, but this is not the case with all. A deeper sense of sin may be given to you instead of a sense of pardon. In such a case, you'll need to have patience to bear the heavy blow. Ah, poor heart. Though Christ beat and bruise you or even slay you, you must trust in him. Though he should give you an angry word, believe in the love in his heart. Do not, I beg you, give up, seeking or trusting the master because you have not yet obtained the conscious joy which you long for. Cast yourself upon him persevering depend where you cannot yet rejoicingly hope.” "Genuine faith may be in the soul like a hidden seed, but as yet, it may not have budded and blossomed into joy and peace. … A deeper sense of sin may be given to you instead of a sense of pardon. In such a case, you'll need to have patience to bear the heavy blow." That's the lesson on persevering faith we learn from this woman. Her faith was great, but Jesus’ compassion and power are greater. What struck me when I was doing scripture memory in the Gospel of Mark , I came to this account, and thought of the phrase, "effortless power," on the part of Jesus. It first hit me in this account, effortless power, and I've used it for all the other miracles, but it started for me first in this encounter, effortless power that Jesus displays over the demon. In a split second, I mean, literally, split second, He drives a demon out without moving a muscle, without speaking a word. Look at verse 29 and 30 in Mark 7. “Then he told her, ‘For such a reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.’ She went home and found her daughter, her child lying on the bed and the demon gone.” That is simply astonishing. One moment the demon was inhabiting this little girl, and the next moment after her statement, the demon had been evicted; not the demon will leave presently, no, the demon has gone. When? Now, a moment ago. How? By the power of his thoughts. As I said, Jesus just didn't move a muscle. He didn't walk over to her home. He didn't lay hands on her as He usually liked to do. He didn't rebuke the demon or speak any words to the demon. He did nothing but exert spiritual force on the demon, the force of his sovereign kingly power overall things, and the demon was gone. The demon had no choice but to be gone. So for me, this I think is the clearest example of effortless power on Jesus part. What effort physically did he make? None. It's just his kingly power. I've talked about it throughout the gospel of Mark. At the beginning of the sermon, I've already laid out all my cards on the table. What's left to do? We've talked about the woman and how wonderful her faith is. We've talked about Jesus's effortless power. We could just pray and go home now, but I'm not going to do that. We're going to walk through the texts, both of them to some degree, and try to learn the details. I've already told you the point of the story. Let's walk through it. I. Jesus’ Strategic Retreat It begins with Jesus' strategic retreat. Look at verse 24 in Mark 7, “Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it. Yet he could not keep his presence a secret.” Matthew 15:21, “Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.” Why this retreat? The Greek word in Matthew is stronger than just “he went away”. This was a strategic retreat on his part, and the reason I think was to escape the building pressure in the Jewish country that would bring issues to a head too soon. Jesus had a strong sense of the timing of his mission. Everything had been planned out to the detail, especially his death. In John's Gospel, we have this repeated phrase. Many times they sought to arrest Jesus and kill him or take him away, but John tells us, “his time had not yet come.” Everything was timed out, but there's a human factor in this. The human pressures are mounting to a point of explosion. The pot's about to boil over. You've got the huge crowds that are constantly pressing in, physically pressing in on Jesus for healing, depriving him sometimes even of air, and they want, in John 6, to take him away by force to make him king. They're going to take matters in their own hands and just make him king. You've got Herod Antipas, the wicked king that executed John the Baptist after that alluring dance done by that young woman, who would certainly have opposed Jesus and fought against him and perhaps incarcerated him and killed him as well. Most of all though, you've got the religious leaders, the Jewish religious leaders, the chief Scribes and Pharisees, who are increasingly hostile to Jesus, already plotting and scheming his death. For all these reasons, Jesus had to get away. He had to affect a strategic retreat, but I think it was especially to focus on the twelve apostles. He wanted to spend time with them and shape them and mold them and prepare them for their future mission, even to the ends of the earth, including gentile areas. He wanted to pour into them and train them, away from those mounting Jewish pressures. He retreated to Tyre and Sidon. It's a Gentile area, as I've said. It's away from the Jewish nation, away from Judea and Galilee. Jesus would not be as well known there. Tyre and Sidon were notorious centers of Gentile wickedness. They were port cities known for trade across the Mediterranean and all the wickedness of the world just pooled there like a cesspool of wickedness. Ezekiel 28 openly implies that Satan was the king of Tyre. He's the power behind that economic throne. Tyre's a perfect place for Jesus to retreat to. The Jewish crowds are not going to follow him there, and He would not be as well known there. II. A Mother’s Desperate Plea However, this desperate woman found him anyway. Look at verse 24 in Mark 7, “He entered the house and did not want anyone to know it, yet he could not keep his presence a secret.” That brings us to this mother and her desperate plea, look at verse 25, “In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.” Matthew 15 says she falls at his feet. Putting it together, where we go back a little bit in time with the beginning of the encounter, Matthew gives us more of the full encounter. In Matthew 15:22, she was crying out. It says, "Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession." Who is this woman? It ways in Mark 7:26, the woman was a Greek, we're told born in Syrian Phoenicia. That's why she's called a Syrophoenician. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. She's a Canaanite. These are the very people of the land that the Jews under Joshua had driven out of the Promised Land, the ones that they were never supposed to intermarry with. The ones that are known for their paganism and their wickedness, that's who she was. This woman would've been a complete outcast as far as the Jews were concerned. She was a pagan woman, but she has this desperate plight. She says in Matthew's account, "My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” The Greek there is intensive, as if the demon is thrashing this little girl around, beating her up, abusing her daily and the daughter is little. This tender little girl, powerless against this spiritual force, and there's nothing the mother can do. She makes repeated pleas. Mark gives us the sense that she's repeatedly crying out to Jesus again and again. She uses this Jewish term in Matthew, "Lord's son of David," so she seems to understand the significance of that title. Mark gives us a sense of her bodily position. Mark says she casts herself down before him at his feet, a position of abject weakness and a description also of majesty to Jesus by calling him Lord and throwing herself at his feet. She may be ready to worship him, but especially, she has nowhere else to turn, and yet she has no doubts whatsoever that Jesus has the power to heal her little girl. III. Jesus Tests Her Faith - She Passes the Test Then, Jesus tests her faith and she passes the test. Back in Matthew, we get, as I said, Jesus's initial strange response that Spurgeon talked about. Jesus did not answer her a word, He just ignores her. He acted like she wasn't even there. This is a picture of a basic theological fact. God doesn't have to listen to you. He doesn't owe you a hearing if you're a sinner apart from Christ. He doesn't have to listen to anything you say. He’s not under obligation. He does hear everything because He is omnipotent, but this is a picture showing that we don't necessarily have a hearing. We don't necessarily have access to the throne. The disciples are shown in Matthew's account at this point with simple annoyance. That's all that's going on for them, straight annoyance. Matthew 15:23, “The disciples came to him and urged him, ‘Send her away for she keeps crying out after us.’" They don't want anything to do with this woman. Like any typical Jewish person of that day, they almost certainly would've disdain her, looked at her only as a noisy annoyance, no compassion. I don't read any compassion in them at all for her. Then, Jesus makes his first verbal response, lost to them, but it's certainly relevant to the woman. In Matthew 15:24, he answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." Jesus there strategically borders his ministry, geographically, ethnically to the Jewish nation, but we know this is only temporary, but this is what He says, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." Next, the woman then presses in, and Jesus answers her directly. I mean, isn't she marvelous? She will not be ignored. She will not be denied. So beautiful, such a picture of persistent faith. Matthew 15:25-26, “The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me,’ she says.” I mean it's not much different than Peter's sinking prayer, "Lord, save me." It's just that simple, "Lord, help me." Then He says to her, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." Now, we must admit, this is troubling. This is a troubling statement. It's a difficult statement. It seems harsh. It seems demeaning to her as a human being. It seems so unlike Jesus, wouldn't you agree? It doesn't seem to be what He was about. He was very tenderhearted toward people who were in suffering situations, especially women. There's some mitigating factors here. First of all, we don't have Jesus's tone of voice. We don't have his facial expression. We just have the account. The Greek implies that Jesus had a longer conversation with her. None of the gospels is exhaustively complete, and there's always more that went on than was recorded. There's additional things. It says, "Jesus was saying to her, ‘It's not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs.’" “Dogs” here in the Greek is not the term of a wild stray dog that roams around viciously attacking other dogs and attacking people and looking for garbage, picking through garbage. It's a different word. Seems to be more domesticated. Yet for all of that, I will admit, it still seems strange. It seems like a strange answer on Jesus' part. Why did He do it? Let's eliminate some possibilities. Just take some right off the table, not because of this, not because of this, not because of this. Let's walk through what it couldn't have been. It's not because Jesus didn't care about Gentiles or God doesn't care about Gentiles. Not at all. At the very beginning of the Jewish nation, the call of Abraham in Genesis 12, God said in verse 3, "I will bless those who bless you, Abraham, and whoever curses you, I will curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." All the Gentiles are going to be blessed through you. That's from the very beginning. God had a saving purpose to our Gentiles. Then, in Isaiah 49:6, “God, the Father says to God the Son pre-incarnate, ‘It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.’" That's six centuries before Jesus was even born. Again, in Psalm 67, the beautiful Jewish psalmist writes these words, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, oh God. May all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy." I could multiply verses like this from the Old Testament. That's not it. After Christ's resurrection, He will send his apostles, his disciples to the ends of the earth to make disciples of all nations. There's no doubt about that. One of the earliest places they would go would be Tyre and Sidon, so much so that at the end of his third missionary journey, Paul on route to Jerusalem, stops and visits the disciples there in Tyre, many of whom knew about Paul and welcomed him warmly and loved him. Second, it's not because Jesus lacked the power to do miracles in a Gentile land. Jesus was God omnipotent. There is nothing He cannot do. It’s not that He's not particularly good in Gentile or Jewish lands and a little bit weaker in Gentile land. That is not the case. Jesus is very good everywhere. That's not it. Clearly, Jesus is effortlessly powerful over this demon. Thirdly, not because ministry in Tyre would not have been effective or somehow a waste of time. Actually, quite the opposite. Jesus was charging Jewish cities with great sin because they didn't repent, seeing a river of miracles from him. In Matthew 11:21, He says, "Woe you, Chorazin. Woe to you Bethsaida,” [Jewish cities] "If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would've repented long ago in sack cloth and ashes.” The whole city would've repented. According to his sovereign strategic will, He didn't do those miracles in Tyre and Sidon, but they would've been effective in converting the populace. Fourth, not because Jesus lacks mercy or compassion for her plight or that of her daughter. Jesus had the most perfect compassion of any human being in history. Again and again, the gospel speak of Jesus' compassion. Anyone who came to him empty and as a beggar went away full and rich and their needs abundantly met. Fifth, not because Jesus was weary or annoyed, wanted a vacation, a break, and gave her a surly answer based on that. Even when Jesus was dying on the cross, He was caring about other people. Bearing the sins of the world, drinking the cup of God's wrath, He's caring for John and his mother and the thief on the cross and the centurion at the foot of the cross. He's caring about other people. Six, not because Jesus was taking a break from ministry and didn't want to care for her needs at that point. Seventh, not because there's only so much bread on the table and if He takes some of that, there won't be enough for the children. Not at all. I mean, it's like Jesus is a torch and he is lighting a thousand torches. His power is not diminished by doing miracles. It's not like there's only so many miracles to go around. He could do this forever and not because she didn't ask properly or with enough faith. She did very well in how she asked. Okay, why then? There is a salvation strategy in order that's clearly laid out in the Bible to the Jew first, then to the Gentile. Jesus says it himself. "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." As He will say to the Samaritan woman, "Salvation is from the Jews." Paul says in Romans, "To the Jew first then to the Gentile." Paul's strategy was go to Jewish synagogues first and then when they rejected, to then go to the Gentiles. That was the redemptive plan. He was to come to the Jewish nation and the Jewish nation would reject him, and then He would go to the world. As John 1:11 says, “He came to his own and his own people did not receive him.” Secondly, Christ hadn't died yet. The Gentiles are still on the outside. The barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, was still there. Only after He died would a curtain in the temple be torn in two from top to bottom. They're still on the outside, but after He died, Ephesians 2 says, "That by the work of Jesus, there is one new man out of the two." Out of Jew and Gentile, that one new man is the believer in Christ, follower in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, but that hasn't happened yet. I think ultimately, number three, it's to test her faith, to test her faith and to put it on display. He was testing her to see, first of all if she would humble herself because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The Sermon of the Mount blessed are the spiritual beggars for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “If you'll beg me, knowing you have nothing to offer me, I'll give you everything, but if you're going to be prideful, I'll give you nothing.” Imagine if this woman hearing this statement had bristled and said, "I'm not a dog. I'm a human being and you have no right to talk to me that way,” and spun on her heel and walked away. What would she have gotten from Jesus at that point? I'm telling you, nothing. Sometimes, God humbles us in prayer and tells us who we are, reminds us who we are and who He is and starts there. Also, I believe He's testing her to develop her faith, to get it stronger, to make it come on in the pattern of a physical therapist that strengthens weakened muscles by testing them vigorously, even opposing the motion, so the patient has to exert even more force, more willpower, more strength, thus, thus developing the weak muscle. Jesus seems to oppose her, fight against her, despite the fact that He clearly desires to give her what she wants. Finally, ultimately, He wants to put her faith on display for all of us. We who are going to read this account, we're going to learn from her how to come to Christ and beg him. He puts her faith on display. This account puts her faith on display. What do you learn from her faith? What can we learn from it? First of all, faith has a basis. She comes to Jesus, I believe, because she knows who he is and what he's done. "Lord, son of David have mercy on me." Why does she even come to him? She's heard the miracle accounts, and faith has a basis. It is with us. The more we are immersing ourselves in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and indeed in the whole Bible, the stronger our faith in Jesus will get. Faith has a basis and we have more information than this woman ever had. If your faith is weak, get in the Bible. Find out more and more about Jesus. Immerse yourself in that. "What do you learn from her faith? What can we learn from it? First of all, faith has a basis. She comes to Jesus, I believe, because she knows who he is and what he's done." We see also the reverence of her faith. She calls him Lord. She bows down. She falls at his feet. She worships him. She's submissive. She's reverent. She doesn't presume on him or demand from him. She knows that he's exalted and treats him accordingly. We see the confidence of her faith. There's no doubt in her mind whatsoever that Jesus is capable of doing this. That's why she's so persistent. We see the repentance of her faith. She says, "Have mercy on me." She doesn't deserve anything. She's asking for mercy. She can't demand mercy. We see the persistence of her faith. Jesus puts up these roadblocks, and yet she's persistent. She doesn't give up. We see also the love of her faith. It's amazing. She has taken her daughter's condition as though it's her own. Now, you mothers are like, "Well, yeah, that's what mothers do," but still, that's another human being there, and what is she saying? "Have mercy on me. Lord, help me," and that's what happens with prayer. When you're interceding for someone else and they're suffering and you're not, the more you pray, the more your heart gets knit up with their condition and you start to love your neighbor as yourself. You start to love as though it's happening to you. Faith overcomes all of these obstacles and keeps persistent. Jacob wrestled all night with an angel saying, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." We see the humility of her faith. She says, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table," so faith takes its rightful place and says these appropriate things. Remember, the centurion who had paralyzed servant? He said, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof." I love what John the Baptist said when he says, "I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals." I mean, the more you elevate that sense of the exalted majesty of Jesus, the fact the seraphim are covering their faces in his presence, the better you'll be in your prayer life. IV. Jesus Unleashes Effortless Power We see ultimately the reward of her faith. She gets what she wants. Her persistent faith was rewarded. Jesus unleashes effortless power, verse 29 -30, “Then He told her, ‘For such a reply, you may go, the demon has left your daughter.’ She went home and found her child lying in the bed, the demon gone.” The healing is instantaneous. As we said, it's effortless. This is an amazing picture of the power of Jesus. Demons are vastly more powerful than we are, but Jesus is infinitely more powerful than all of them. Is it just me? Maybe I'm just geeky this way, but I'm hugely into the timeframe here. It's like, when did that happen? "For such a reply, you may go. The demon is gone." What's the timeframe of that? I'm thinking half a second. That's amazing. God can do immeasurably more than all you ask or imagine. That's omnipotence on display. As Jeremiah said, "Ah, sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth by your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you.” V. Timeless Lessons I would hope you'd be able to tell me what some of them are by now. I've been super clear right from the beginning of the sermon, but let's walk through some of these timeless lessons. Let's start with Jesus. What do we learn about Jesus, the majesty of Christ here? This woman had great thoughts about Jesus' lavish bounty. Let's go back to Spurgeon now. Let's listen to what Spurgeon says, "This woman had thought great thoughts about Christ. She thought, I know you are so generous a master of the feast that they're sure to be abundant bread on your table, that if even a crumb fell to the ground, that would suffice for me.” Remember, for the woman having a demon cast out of her daughter is a very great thing, but she had such high thoughts of Jesus that she knew for him it was like a crumb falling from his banqueting table. “Dear child of God, think great thoughts of Christ, thinking great thoughts of your sin alone will drive you to despair, but great thoughts of Christ and his atonement will navigate your troubled soul to its peaceful haven. Though your sins may be many and mighty, it is nothing for Christ to atone for them and remove them from you by His work on cross." [Spurgeon] Think great thoughts of Jesus. Think great thoughts of his atoning work on the cross. I love what he said,"If you think great thoughts of your sins alone, you will despair. But if you think great thoughts of Christ, in light of your sin, you'll flee to the cross and find forgiveness." [Spurgeon] Effortless power. Nothing is too difficult for him. John 1:3, "Through him, all things were made and without him, nothing was made that has been made." Isaiah 40:26, Speaking to the stars, “Lift up your eyes and look at these. Look at the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and his mighty strength, not one of those stars is missing." That's the power of God. It's the power of Christ. I cannot understand the power of Jesus in the invisible spiritual realm. I don't know how that works. That's okay. I don't understand gravity or magnetism either, and neither do you. Somewhere between the sun and us, there's nothing but vacuum, but the sun's exerting some force on us. I don't get that, I don't need to. Same thing in the spiritual realms. When Jesus thinks it, it's just done. Is there any situation in your life that you're facing right now that Jesus cannot handle? You need to understand. I was talking to somebody right before worship. I had this thought. Effortless power means intentionality in your suffering. You realize that. Do you realize that like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, He could put a bubble of pleasure around you and you would live the rest of your life in that bubble if He wanted you to. He could take away all of your diseases. He could take away all of your inflictions, everything that's causing you difficulty. He could put a bubble of ease around you and in that bubble, you would move through this world of suffering until at last, it popped and you were in heaven, and you're like, "Pastor, I'm into that. That sounds really good." Effortless power. He could do that. He's not doing that. Why? He has purpose. He has a purpose in your suffering, all of it. How long it will last, how intense it is. There's purpose. We need to understand that. Secondly, don't be discouraged about God's silence when you pray. As Spurgeon said, "Don't be discouraged. Don't be put off." Be like that woman. Press in. Pray more, not less. Ask more intensely. Keep praying and be like this woman. Learn the lessons of her faith. Make sure that your faith has a basis in the word of God. You're asking according to his will, and you're asking the Jesus of the Bible that you know and love. Be reverent in your approach to God. Understand how exalted He is and speak to him accordingly, respectfully. Be strength in your faith and growing confidence. Don't flicker or waiver, not certain whether He can hear you or not. Don't be like that. Be humble and repentant. Remember the Pharisee and the tax collector. The tax collector, the sinner, beat his breast and would not look up to heaven, but said, "Be merciful to me, oh God.” Be persistent. Don't give up quickly and wait on God until you have at last faith's reward. Close with me in prayer. Lord, we thank you for the time that we've had to study this incredible encounter that Jesus had with this Canaanite woman, and thank you for the things that we can learn from it and pray that you would help us to put these lessons into practice for our lives. I thank you for Jesus' tenderness and thank you for his love, his concern for us as his children. Lord, I thank you for the way he dealt with her and the daughter, and I pray, oh Lord, that you would strengthen us in our faith and especially in our prayer lives that we would receive from you, obtain from you the reward of faith. In Jesus name, Amen.

Though Christ has saved and sanctified Christians, they are not yet perfect and must persevere in sanctified progress until they cross the finish line of being completely holy like Jesus. Do not dwell on past successes that will slow down your race toward the future. Keep racing ahead until you are finished with the race. Let nothing stop you from getting closer and closer to Christ in your life. Strive After Total Sanctification in Your Savior.

Though Christ has saved and sanctified Christians, they are not yet perfect and must persevere in sanctified progress until they cross the finish line of being completely holy like Jesus. Do not dwell on past successes that will slow down your race toward the future. Keep racing ahead until you are finished with the race. Let nothing stop you from getting closer and closer to Christ in your life. Strive After Total Sanctification in Your Savior.

In verses 1-3 we heard the voice of the nations. It was the voice of rebellion. These verses remind me of Psalm 53:1-3. “The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good." In my Bible next to these verses, I wrote down, “Why? Because…” Why do they claim there is no God? Because they are corrupt and are living in abominable iniquity. They don't want to be accountable to a Holy God one day! If they are going to enjoy their sin and wicked ways, they can't have God even in their thoughts or mind. But my friend, to deny something or someone does not take them out of existence! God is still where He always was, in Heaven! The peaceful scene in heaven is quite a contrast to the noisy scene on earth, for God is neither worried nor afraid as puny man rages against Him. He merely laughs in derision (37:8-13; 59:1-9). After all, to God, the greatest rulers are but grass to be cut down, and the strongest nations are only drops in the bucket (Isa. 40:6-8, 12-17). How does God respond to the threats of men? He laughs! It is the holy voice of derision, for God is greater than man and need not fear the proud attacks of puny kings. Today, God does not speak today in judgment; but instead He is speaking to the nations in His grace and calling them to trust His Son, but the day will come when God will speak to them in His wrath and send terrible judgment to the world (Rev. 6-19). If people will not accept God's judgment of sin at the cross and trust Christ, they will have to accept God's judgment of themselves and their sins. The day is coming when God will have "the last laugh" (Ps. 37:1-15; 59:1-8). Remember how proud Sennacherib defied God and the Jews and then was suddenly wiped out? (2 Kings 19) This will happen again when God decides to deal in judgment with the nations of the world. There is also the voice of displeasure in verse 5. The word "displeasure" means "fiery anger". This is the tribulation, described in detail in Rev. 6-19. It will be a time of awful judgment upon the land and sea, the heavens, the world of nature, and people and nations. Millions of people will die in plagues and heaven-sent disasters. During the tribulation period, the nation of Israel will be "purged" to prepare a believing remnant for the return of Christ to establish His kingdom from Jerusalem. Multitudes will be saved during this time, but many of them will seal their decision with their own lives. Finally, God's voice is a voice of declaration (v. 6); God has set ("His anointed"), His King upon His holy hill. This is Christ (Isa. 9:6-7; Dan. 7:13-14). It was God who gave David his throne on Zion, and it was God who gave David victory after victory as he defeated the enemies of Israel. But this was only a picture of an even greater coronation: God declares that there is but one legitimate King, and that is His Son who is now seated on the throne of glory (Mark 16:19; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:19-23). Though Christ is not yet seated on His own throne of glory, or upon the throne of David, He is seated at the Father's right hand; and His throne is as certain as the Father's word! Today, Christ is a priest-king like Melchizedek (Heb. 6:20-7:17). He intercedes for His own. One day He will return in glory and sit upon the throne to judge and rule the nations (Matt. 25:31-46). If we fail to see Jesus Christ in this Psalm, we miss its message completely: His death (vv. 1-3, Acts 4:23-28), resurrection (v. 7, Acts 13:33), ascension and enthronement in glory (v. 6), and His return and righteous rule on earth (vv. 8-9, Rev. 2:9, 27; 12:5). Today, in this age of grace, we can bow in humility and repentance, and we will find hope and mercy! God bless

In keeping up with our "July 4th" theme from last week, we're talking about American independence vs. the community mindset of the LDS Church. Though Christ invites us to be part of His flock in the scriptures, we find American members of the church flocking to the concept of self-reliance and self-absorption. Join us as we investigate these two paradigms further and learn how they both impact communities and the LDS church culture at large.

The divine Word of the Father also is the holy wisdom who “was beside him, like a master workman,” who “was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always” (Prov. 8:30). This Word became flesh and suffered death in order to bestow life by the preaching of His Gospel “to the children of man” (Prov. 8:4). He honors the Father, and the Father glorifies Him by raising Him from the dead, so that all who keep His Word “will never see death” (John 8:51). Long ago, “father Abraham rejoiced” in the day of Christ, for “he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). Though Christ was “crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men,” “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death” (Acts 2:23, 24). As He “received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:33), so it is by and through the Son that God the Father pours out the Holy Spirit upon His Church.#BibleStudy #LCMS #HolyTrinity #Lutheran #Trinity #3in1 #Podcast----Visit our website: https://www.trinitysheboygan.org/​​​​Trinity Lutheran Church, School and Child Care have been "Making Known the Love of Christ" in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and throughout the world since 1853 as a congregation gathering around God's Word and Sacraments to receive forgiveness and life everlasting. Trinity is located in downtown Sheboygan, only one block from the Mead Public Library and the Weill Center for the Performing Arts. We invite you to visit us in person!Trinity Lutheran Sheboygan is a proud member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit their website: https://www.lcms.org/​​​​Music for this production was obtained through a licensing agreement with One License, LLC. The copyright permission to reprint, podcast, and record hymns and songs is acquired through ID Number: 730195-ASupport the show

Though Christ leads the song, the saints form the chorus. Because of his experience, we have a hymn of exaltation for the God of our salvation. Our song looks back to the work of grace, God's deliverance of us from sin and death and hell, his continued favour toward us when we are distressed and oppressed. It is a song of praise, focused on the God who delivers us. It serves as a call to faith, for when other see what God has done in so putting a new song in the mouths of his people, they will tremble at his majesty and trust in his mercy in Christ.

The story of Hosea and Gomer is one of the most beautiful biblical prophecies. In the book of Hosea, God tells Hosea to go marry a woman by the name of Gomer who would be known for her whoredoms. Time and time again, Gomer committed adultery against her husband and caused him great shame. This prophecy is a spiritual metaphor for the relationship that Christ has with his church. Though Christ committed the greatest sacrifice by shedding His blood on the cross to redeem us, sometimes we still wander away from him, committing spiritual adultery and bringing shame to His name. Just as Hosea went to redeem Gomer from her adulterous ways, Christ does the same for His children. He extended the open door for restoration even when we walk away from him and backslide deep down into sin again. Even in our backsliding, God says he is still married to us and has bought us with a price, as his wife, the church. This message is for the believer who is struggling with backsliding and questions if God still loves you. Tune in for a powerhouse message of inspiration. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/withlovejaye/support

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

A dominant narrative, even among Christians, is “I am a sinner,” but the New Testament narrative is that Christians are in Christ and are new creations. Therefore “I am a saint” is a the more truthful declaration. Though Christ dwells in Christians, sin remains, but its power has been broken and it must not reign. The secret to living the Christian life is to “abide” in Christ, allowing Him to shine through weaknesses and vulnerabilities

Christmas Special EpisodeAdvent is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, and longing, for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating a tree or stringing lights, but they're also intended to be spiritual.During Advent, we're invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church, all to prepare for celebrating Christmas.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah...by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming.”Credits: Luminous Radio

Advent is a period of preparation extending over the four Sundays before Christmas. The word Advent comes from the Latin advenio, "to come to," and refers to the coming of Christ. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply into our lives, and to renew our desire for Christ's triumphant second coming into the world.

Jesus came and established the church, a strong force whose mandate is massive. The enemy keeps dividing the church over minor issues. As the church divide widens, the enemy comes to visit and builds a camp inside.Things like denominations, doctrines, uniform, dress code, sin, societal statue, money, false and true prophets, miracles and gimmicks keep the church at loggerheads. Though Christ should be the centre and the foundation, these arguments subdues the church and her power. As she focuses on the non-issue battles, the enemy wins the bigger battles. Jesus said about the church, 'The gates of hell shall not be able to prevail against the church'.Is the church at the gate, fighting of the power of hell in drawing people to eternal damnation? Or is she too busy fighting over vaccinations, politics and so on. The vision of Ezekiel, in Chapter 37 of the same, is a reflection of the congregation of Israel, dead bones scattered in the valley, no life in them and very dry. Can these bones live?Subscribe, download and share this episode.Get copies of my books:·         The Bride of Jesus·         Dear Girl Child·         Confessions of a Parent·         Victorious Youth·         From the Pit to the Palace  Follow this link:https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ACarol+NKambule&s=relevanceexprank&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=24&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=14&unfiltered=1&ref=sr_adv_b Connect with me on social media:Facebook Carol Nkambule https://www.facebook.com/carol.nkambuleFacebook Word Anchor Podcast https://www.facebook.com/Word-Anchor-Podcast-111011710640130/Twitter @Carol_Nkambule Twitter @AnchorWord Instagram apostle_carolnkambule

Though Christ now sits in heaven, His ability to understand and empathize with our circumstances and situations remains true. Hebrews 4: 15 “We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses.” Speaker: Pastor Sam Sutter

21st Sunday after Pentecost COLLECT Lord Jesus Christ, you came among us as the servant of all: overturn our wrongful pride and make us eager to serve our brothers and sisters with the loving self-sacrifice. for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen READING Job 38: 1-7 2 Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words? 3 Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you. 4 Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. 5 Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers? 6 What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world? READING Hebrews 5: 1-10 Every high priest is chosen from his fellow men and appointed to serve God on their behalf, to offer sacrifices and offerings for sins. 2 Since he himself is weak in many ways, he is able to be gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes. 4 No one chooses for himself the honour of being a high priest. It is only by God's call that a man is made a high priest—just as Aaron was. 5 In the same way, Christ did not take upon himself the honour of being a high priest. Instead, God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” 6 He also said in another place, “You will be a priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.” GOSPEL Mark 10: 35-45 35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." 36 And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" 37 And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." 38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" 39 They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. PRAYER FOR COVID Author of life, Saviour of the nations COVID is humbling, your grace is sufficient. The deaths, we mourn; For the recoveries, we give thanks; The compassionate care, we applaud; For the vaccines, we are grateful; For compliance, we plead; For the common good, we pray; In the healing name of Jesus. Amen © Rodney Whiteman – 29/04/2021. BENEDICTION Go now with the words of your high priest in your ears: “You are a forgiven people.” Though Christ has welcomed you to his table, do not lord it over others. Strive not to be served, but to serve, and pray, with cries and tears, for the salvation of all. And may God be present to you in times of trial; May Christ Jesus pray for you and secure your forgiveness; and may the Holy Spirit fill you with hope and humility. COMMISSIONING/SENDING Go in peace with courage, to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is ( in Christ ) they are a new creation . Have you ever thought about everything that is new also has new benefits , supply's and much more that come with it because it is new ? in contrast to something that's old ? When a person becomes a new creation in Christ God the father also supply's new power , new benefits , new promises , and much , much more and all of this is standard equipment it comes with the newness of who and what you are now that you are born again where previously it did not exist ! . Join me in this wonderful message of learning how to apply , and make use of these wonderful new benefit's that came with the new creature that the believer has became though the new birth .

As born again people we were created though Jesus Christ to know life on a whole new level called the God level , because it's life as God created it to be though his risen Son Jesus Christ over 2,000 years a go for in Christ Jesus there's life more abundant and running over with joy . Though Christ Jesus we are in the word but not of the world , just as when Jesus walked the earth he was in this world but not of it instead he was a light and the power of the living God walking and talking among us . Though Christ we raised to a whole new level of assistance and we teach our minds and bodies the God kind of life, joy, peace for it's given to us though the Holy Spirit which dwells in us . Join me in this message and be uplifted full of joy , peace and walk in the power of the born again life which Christ Jesus introduced to this earth .

Christ was put to death by lawless hands, but it was for a determined purpose. Though Christ was sinless, He had to die. He is not a victim, but a King who came to suffer and give His life on the cross. The cross is the centre of everything when it comes to Christianity. It’s where God’s hatred for sin and God’s love for people came together. That is why if you are a Christian, you are not permitted to forget about the cross.

The soil of the centuries had been ploughed and harrowed for the gospel of God. And men began to experience God's plan of salvation. The authors of the gospel of God are anonymous, and all that we can really know about them must be derived from our own experience of scripture. Their authority was not in scripture as a dead written code but in their own experience of scripture.   Their gospel was not a new religion but the fulfillment of one as old as the faith of Abraham. "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham" (Gal. 3:8). And Abraham believed God and lived in accordance with the preview of the story of salvation that God granted to him. The unknown authors of the gospel emphasize the fulfillment of scripture in the life of Jesus Christ. Christ in us fulfills the scripture.   "Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?" (2 Cor. 13:5). "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me" (Gal. 2:20).   "For if we have been united with Him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like his" (Rom. 6:4).   The repetition in us, through His indwelling, has been expressed by Johann Scheffler, a seventeenth-century mystic.   "Though Christ a thousand times In Bethlehem be born, If He's not born in thee, Thy soul is still forlorn." — Edward Thomas The Old Testament is a prophetic blueprint of the life of Jesus Christ. The gospel of God is the revelation of the future granted to Abraham. "Abraham rejoiced that he was to see My day" (John 8:56). It is about the risen Christ. Participation in the life of the age to come depends on God's act of raising the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God's victory. That we shall be "united with Him in a resurrection like His" is the promise of God's victory for all. Alternate Universe Reality Activation  get full access to new meditations, new lectures, recordings from the reality con and the 90 day AURA meditation schedulehttps://realityrevolutionlive.com/aura45338118 BUY A COPY OF MY BOOKhttps://www.amazon.com/Reality-Revolution-Mind-Blowing-Movement-Hack/dp/154450618X/ Listen my book on audible https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Reality-Revolution-Audiobook/B087LV1R5V Music By Mettaverseinner worldsnocturnetravel lightsolsticelight quotient ➤ Listen on Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/2KjGlLI➤ Follow them on Instagram: http://bit.ly/2JW8BU2➤ Join them on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2G1j7G6➤ Subscribe to their channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyvjffON2NoUvX5q_TgvVkw Transform your health - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo9Ef3Qy_G9aduDHbkPbpKOb   All my guided meditations in one place https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo_BfNnb5vLcwouInskcEhqL   All my short meditations (you have 10 minutes) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo-Mc0SiXK8Ef0opJeahwgfM   All my episodes about parallel realities - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo-1-dStwX7huyhcxpJPMrWi   All My Neville Goddard Videos In One Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo8kBZsJpp3xvkRwhbXuhg0M For all episodes of the Reality Revolution – https://www.therealityrevolution.com  Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/The-Reality-Revolution-Podcast-Hosted-By-Brian-Scott-102555575116999 Join our facebook group The Reality Revolution https://www.facebook.com/groups/523814491927119  Subscribe to my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOgXHr5S3oF0qetPfqxJfSw #nevillegoddard #audiobooks #imagination #newthought #lawofattraction #totalhumanoptimization

This week on Grace Period, Fr. Lou invites us to walk during this Holy Week with Jesus through the great storm of His life. Though Christ's Way of the Cross is utterly singular in human experience, He also teaches us that His journey is one we must all make, each in our own way. And Jesus invites us to make it – like Him, as a journey of self-sacrifice – but also as a journey of hope. Learn more at ace.nd.edu/grace-period.

Though Christ has conquered, we often struggle to be his witnesses. Jesus gives us three reasons to renounce fear and embrace suffering for the gospel.

“I Can Do All Thing Though Christ Which Strengtheneth Me“ was given by Brother Todd McKeehen from the pulpit of Calvary Baptist Church on November.8.2020 evening.

Reading from Hebrews 10:1-18(NLT) ~Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All~ Scripture reading followed by discussion. Not being able to focus on sin and be free from sin. Needing the sacrifice that bring about the forgiveness so the sins could be forgotten. Though Christ forgiveness can be extended to all.

The fact that Christ has not returned after 2,000 years makes some people doubt the reality of his second coming, while others simply ignore it altogether. Instead of living with expectancy and seeking to faithfully endure, they become careless and fail to live in light of the judgment that is coming. In this message David Platt exhorts us to heed Christ’s warning in Matthew 25. Though Christ’s return seems to be delayed, he will return suddenly and all hearts will be exposed. Christ’s coming should shape the way we live in the present and the way we look to the future, for nothing short of heaven and hell are at stake. This message is Part 2 of the “Return of the King.”

In this episode, we begin a closer study of the seven churches in the book of Revelation. We start by studying the church at Ephesus as Pastor Eric preaches from Revelation 2. Though Christ first came in humility, He reigns with dominion over His church. We see that as He moves among the church at Ephesus, He praises their work for the Kingdom and endurance before reminding them to continue in love, not routine or obligation. Let this reminder be for us, also, as we abide under Christ.

What makes Christianity differ From the other religions of the human race? Only that there is hope also for the sinner - Through the underserved sweetness of GRACE. Many other religions talk of miracles, Promise even life after death, Though Christ is the only Messiah Who has gotten that one right yet. Many have Wisemen following stars, There are even legends about virgin births, But the ONE distinguishing factor, The one of the highest worth... The power of forgiveness, To start the life anew, The power to start from scratch again, And try to be better, to be true. Is the very thing they killed Him for The carpenter who was nailed to wood. That He Himself could give pardon of sins, And that it was good that He should. The power of the owner to collect or cancel a debt... What then is the price, of such a crazy request? Only that you give, Also as you have received, And that you forgive those who have you grieved. They said "How dare He presume to wipe a slate clean! Does He have any idea how bad the sinners have been?" But man, sees only the sin, not the tears of repentance shed, Man hopes through punishment to win, And through fear good conduct to spread. But if you won't forgive others, He'll not forgive you - This is the personal cost To have this dream come true. Grace is the gift you must first give away If you wish to then get and receive it - Grace is the path upon which you must stay, Take hold of Christs promise, and believe it.

Don't live as though Christ is still in the tomb! Let us not live in an earthly cave of fear but rest in the power that Christ is risen and has defeated death! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/faithcoffeandakid/message

Though Christ's enemies work woe against His church, the Word advances as she depends on the Lord in prayer.--Sermon Outline---I. Herod incarcerates Peter -v. 1-5-.--II. God emancipates Peter -v. 6-19-.--III. God's Word triumphs -v. 20-25-.

Fr. John Ehrich describes some misconceptions that many might hold in regards to our ideas about heaven, which are described by Jesus in the gospel. The idea that our loved ones who have passed have “become angels” may serve comfort to grieving families, but ultimately, we must clarify that we are only “like” angels, not actually new angels, when we enter into heaven. Another clarification is that marriage in heaven is not a part of the equation. Though Christ has compared eternal life to a wedding in other scripture passages, our human institution of marriage is not purposeful in the context of heaven. Why? One, there is no need for the procreation that marriage brings about because when we are in heaven, at that point, we are fully, purely, impermeably present with God. When we think about the state of affairs in heaven, it is easy to think very personally in the first person perspective (Will or won’t I be in heaven? Will it be my version of heaven? Will it be a land of golf, or chocolate, or _______), or forget about the communal importance of being together at mass. Our understanding and hope is that we’re not only all meant to be united with our Lord Jesus Christ after we die, but also be actively participating in the life in the Body of Christ that we experience in ministry, service, family and love for one another.

Speaker: Bryant Brailles Summary: Part of a series on the book of Hebrews. Though Christ is deity, he suffered as a human and is able to sympathize with us. Legal notice: Speakers here typically quote from the NASB, ESV or NKJV almost exclusively, and the respective copyright notices follow. Some occasionally quote from the King James Version, which is public domain (in the US). Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright by The Lockman Foundation Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, and you are to be holy because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). Leviticus records the teaching of God through Moses at the foot of Mount Sinai during the month between God’s occupation of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:16, 34-38) and the taking of the census at Sinai (Numbers 1:1-3). The descendants of Jacob had learned that they were God’s special people (Genesis), and they had experienced the delivering power of their redeeming God (Exodus). Now, in an intense one-month course on holiness, God will teach the Exodus generation about His holy character and how to relate to their holy God. The account is selective according to Moses’ purpose to teach Israel how to fulfill the responsibility of the Mosaic Covenant by becoming a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6; Leviticus 26:5). (See Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative, p. 323) Leviticus is God’s handbook for his newly redeemed people, instructing them how to worship and serve Him. Unlike the gods of Egypt or the gods of the pagan peoples they are set apart from, their God is holy. Relating to a holy God creates a problem—sin is a barrier to ongoing intimacy with a holy God. The chapters naturally divide into two sections. The first section (1-17) teaches how a sinful people are to approach a holy God—through the blood sacrifice that atones for their sin. The word atonement occurs 45 times in the book. The second section (18-27) shows them how to walk with a holy God—by trusting Him enough to do what He says. It’s called obedience. The theme of Leviticus is holiness: “You are to be holy because I am holy (11:45; 19:2). The word holiness occurs 87 times in 27 chapters! The object lessons for God’s redeemed people of the church age are clear: Sin is horrible; God is holy. Those approaching a holy God need a sacrifice to cleanse them from sin (1 John 1:5-10). Those walking with a holy God need to worship Him through obedience (1 Peter 1:15- 16; Romans 12:1-2): Leviticus may not apply to our lives in the particulars of God’s demands on Israel (Mosaic Covenant), but it is a great presentation of the character of our God and His desire to bless His obedient people. I. APPROACHING A HOLY GOD: The redeemed must be holy when they approach God. Holiness means cleansing from every sin and requires sacrificial blood offerings through a mediating priesthood (1-17; key verse, 17:11). SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS: Five different offerings an Israelite could offer: three for those in fellowship with God (sweet savor—burnt, meal, peace) and two for those out of fellowship (non- sweet savor—sin, trespass) (1-7). MEDIATING PRIESTHOOD: After the sacrifices come the divine requirements for the priests who offer them. Aaron and his four sons are instructed and consecrated for seven days. The disobedience and death of two of Aaron’s sons bring more restrictions on the priesthood (8-10). Messiah: A type of Christ—the priest. The priest speaks to God for men. The Aaronic priest had to be a man chosen by God and qualified for his work to offer sacrifices for the people (Leviticus 21; Hebrews 5:1- 7). Though Christ was chosen by God and fully qualified to offer His once-for-all sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 9:23-26), being from the tribe of Judah disqualified Him from being an Aaronic priest. Christ is a Melchizedekan priest. Like Melchizedek He is a ruler who deserves our obedience. He blesses us. And as Melchizedek offered bread and wine to refresh and sustain Abraham after the battle, our Lord as Priest refreshes and sustains His people. We have a great High Priest standing and ready to come to the aid of those who are tested (Hebrews 2:18) and anxious to give grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).   Leviticus: God’s redeemed must relate to Him as their holy God. C. NATIONAL PURIFYING: Being a holy people demands a holy lifestyle. Laws regarding uncleanness caused by animals, birth, leprosy, and discharges regulate every aspect of life to prevent uncleanness. The word “unclean” occurs over 100 times in these chapters! The people find that disobedience and defilement is no small matter with God (11-15). D. NATIONAL CLEANSING: The great Day of Atonement observed each year was Israel’s most significant day of worship. On that day the nation gathered to watch expectantly as the high priest entered the Holy of Holies with the blood of atonement to cover the sins of the nation for another year (16-17). Messiah: A type of Christ—atonement. The arrangements of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament included the necessity of the offerer laying his hands on the animal being offered as a sacrifice. The animal’s death took the place of the death due the one offering that animal. The animal suffered as a substitute for the sinner, instead of the sinner, resulting in the advantage to the sinner by paying for our sins. Clearly, according to His own teaching (Mark 10:45) and that of the rest of the New Testament, Christ’s death was a substitution for sinners (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18). II. WALKING WITH A HOLY GOD: The redeemed must live a holy life if they are to enjoy and worship God. Holiness means avoiding sin and following God’s guidance (18-27; key verses, 20:7-8). SANCTIFYING THE PEOPLE: God’s strict guidelines for living reflect His desire that His people be holy and uniquely His. Sexual and social sins must be punished promptly to promote obedience among the people (19-20). SANCTIFYING THE PRIESTHOOD: Because of their high calling, the priests accepted more restrictions on their conduct and privileges. Attention to detail in their daily duties was demanded since these reflected God’s goodness in His dealings with His people (21-22). SANCTIFYING THE WORSHIP: Seven annual feasts provided the people with a yearly opportunity to look back and look ahead: look back upon the great epochs in their national history, and look ahead to the time when Messiah would come to fulfill the events pictured in the feasts (23). Messiah: A type of Christ—Israel’s Feasts speak of the glorious career of Christ. SANCTIFYING THE PROMISED LAND: Conversation and conduct in the land must be holy. Profanity is dealt with severely. Periods of rest should never be neglected (Sabbath rest, Sabbath year, Year of Jubilee). And the conditions and requirements for blessings or discipline of the people is clearly delineated. Note: The prophets will refer back to the blessing/cursing chapter, Chapter 26 of Leviticus (see also Chapter 28 of Deuteronomy) (24-26). SANCTIFYING THROUGH VOWS: Dedicating their lives and resources to the Lord, some Israelites would take special vows. Everyone was to vow one-tenth of the increase of the land to God (27). III. Redeemed people must claim God’s provision for sin to approach Him and claim God’s power over sin to walk with Him. God has never asked His people to “take care of their sin” to approach Him. But He does insist that His people admit their sin and trust in His provision for sin to approach Him (1 John 1:5-10). God has never asked His people to “make themselves holy” but He has asked them to trust Him enough to obey Him as His set apart people (1 Peter 1:15-16; Romans 12:1-2). Leviticus teaches the need for intense times of spiritual formation, especially for the newly redeemed.

Though Christ's enemies threaten and futilely attempt to silence the gospel, be resolute to obey God rather than fearing men.

Though Christ’s death on the cross took place 2,000 years ago, how does its reality continue to shape my relationship with Him right now?

Though Christ went through intense suffering and agony on the Cross, God delivered Him through death to victory over the grave, which will spread throughout the whole world. (Good Friday Service from 03-30-2018)

Though Christ went through intense suffering and agony on the Cross, God delivered Him through death to victory over the grave, which will spread throughout the whole world.

Though Christ went through intense suffering and agony on the Cross, God delivered Him through death to victory over the grave, which will spread throughout the whole world. (Good Friday Service from 03-30-2018)

1 Corinthians 15:12-28 Either the Tomb is Empty or Christianity is. Do we actually live as if the resurrection happened or would nothing change if you found out it didn't? Through Adam came sin, suffering, and death. Though Christ came forgiveness,...

Though Christ was not guilty of any sin, as our High Priest and Kin, Jesus Christ receives water baptism, so that he would be the Head of a New People. Not only is He the Federal Head of this people by water, He also is baptized with the Holy Spirit to bestow the Spirit upon them.

Though Christ was not guilty of any sin, as our High Priest and Kin, Jesus Christ receives water baptism, so that he would be the Head of a New People. Not only is He the Federal Head of this people by water, He also is baptized with the Holy Spirit to bestow the Spirit upon them.

Well warriors, in this episode of the Christian Warrior Network, we will try to tackle the observation of why one see's and hears, and another doesn't. Is it a matter of blatant stubbornness or maybe a form of deception or even a possible form of deliberate misdirection. It's an age old question and there is no easy answer and yet we all experience it at some point in our lives. Be it in and of our self, a loved one, a friend, co-worker or even a stranger. No matter how you slice it, you say tomato and I say tomato...Think about it...and look at, Mark: ch. 4 verses 9 – 12...Though Christ is speaking of the farmer and the seed parable you just might want to read that whole section. That being Mark: ch. 4, verses 2 – 23...And then “maybe”, you'll see what I see and by reading it out loud, you will hear what I hear...But no matter what you shall be blessed with plenty, for you have taken time to foment the word of God into your life. For the moment is all that we have ! Until show time may God remove the sty's from your eyes and the wax from your ears. As always and with much love and respect for you. I look foreword to our visit here on the Celtic Cross Internet Radio broadcast. May God Bless you and keep you for His own now and always. Bishop, Andrew Manley DD., O.S.P., O.S.M. 

Though Christ deserved to be served, instead, he served. There's a clear example here for all believers to follow. Listen now to this sermon from our September 25, 2011 AM Service at Higgins Lake Baptist Church. Jesus Serves – John 13:1-5 Speaker: Kevin A. Pierpont Download MP3 http://www.archive.org/download/JesusServes/09-25-2011am-john13_1-5-kap.mp3

Fraser Watts, Cambridghe, gives a talk for the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion Seminar series. Integrations of evolutionary theory and Christian theology have often been built around the concept of progress. However, it will be argued that 'progress' is an unsatisfactory concept in both evolutionary and theological thought. Watts' proposal is that evolutionary theology does not require the concept of progress, and is better off without it. That theme is developed first in relation to human evolution and distinctiveness, where it is argued that there is no need to make the assumption that human beings are 'better than other species, just that they have distinctive capacities that were a necessary precursor to the incarnation. It is further argued that the 'Fall' is ambiguous in relation to progress, and represents a heightened capacity for both good and evil. Though Christ has often been seen as the culmination of evolution, it is suggested that an adequate evolutionary account of the work of Christ needs to be more concerned with the qualitative changes in human and cultural evolution introduced by Christ.

Alright. For the second week, we get to look at a magnificent text of scripture. The supremacy of Christ is our theme this morning. Could there be a better one? Could there be a greater theme to occupy our attention this morning than this one, the supremacy of Christ? And there was a phrase in particular that arrested me last night as I was looking over the text and thinking about it again. And I was reading also a Charles Spurgeon sermon on the same passage, and it really struck me, look at Verse 19, speaking of Christ, "For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him." Now, "fullness" is already a perfect and complete word, isn't it? Fullness, the fullness of God. The fullness of Him who fills the entire universe. “Even the highest heavens cannot contain God.” It says in Jeremiah, "'Can anyone hide in any secret place and I not see them? Do I not fill heaven and earth?' Says God Almighty." The fullness of God, an infinite topic. But Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, thought it insufficient, so he added another word, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him." A double infinite blessing for us, therefore, to meditate on this today. Think about fullness. When you think about fullness, what do you think about? Maybe some of you inclined toward eating, think about Thanksgiving maybe, with a table laden with every kind of food you could want and six desserts besides, and a house filled with family and friends to enjoy it with you, a picture of completeness, of fullness. And sleepiness, too, afterwards. But there it is, a picture of fullness. For me, more historically, I think about Spanish galleons in the 16th century coming from the New World, laden up to the scuppers with gold and silver and with precious stones taken from the mines of the New World. Imagine yourself a captain of one of those ships, surrounded by an armada of ships of the line, and you're going back to your reward. You're going to give all of that stuff to the king and queen, and they may give some of it back to you, and you might actually be established in a position as a noble there in the court, a feeling of fullness. Or perhaps, maybe you're a pioneer traveling across the West, maybe across Death Valley or some other arduous place, four or five months from the Gateway City, Saint Louis, until finally you cross the Sierra Nevada mountains and you go down into the delicious climate of California, you see the rich soil, you see fruit trees, you smell the breeze, and you know that your family is going to be fine there. You're going to establish your farm there and you're going to live there for the rest of your lives, a feeling of fullness. Now, I could go on and on, but God has given little pockets of fullness to our lives, but I tell you that nothing we experience in this world compares with the truth behind this verse, in Verse 19, that “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ." And what's so amazing is that this is the exact same fullness that he intends to give to us, for because of sin, because of Satan's work in this world, we have been fully acquainted with emptiness, haven't we? Christ’s Supremacy as God’s Visible Image (vs. 15) One Bible for Life class is studying the Book of Ecclesiastes, it begins, "Vanity of vanities." “Everything is vanity or meaningless, an emptiness.” And you have to understand that book in context, but basically it's everything done under the sun really apart from a sense of eternity and the work of God through Jesus Christ on the cross. That's what life would be like if it weren't for Jesus, utter meaninglessness. You live a short time and then all the things you labor on, they go over to dust or to nothingness. That's life apart from Christ, and we are freed from it. This book, Colossians, is a book of fullness, isn't it? It's a book of completeness. I was looking at this, I was intrigued, and I said, "I think there's more than just this one verse." Look at Verse 25. The Apostle Paul said, "I have become the church's servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness." So that's part of my joy, I get to present the fullness, the richness of the word of God. Or then, again, in Chapter 2, Verse 2, Paul's purpose and ministry, "My purpose," says he, "is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding." Again, fullness, that you might have the full riches of complete understanding. And then best of all, in Colossians 2:9 and 10, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." Amen and amen. The exact same fullness that God has poured out into Christ, he desires to pour into the empty spaces of our hearts and our lives. He intends to fill this universe with his glory. He intends to fill your life with the glory of Jesus Christ. And so we'll get there in due time, but I just thought, "What a meditation." All the fullness of God is in Christ. My prayer for this morning is that through our meditation on this scripture, we would have a sense of that fullness. What does it mean that all the fullness of Deity, of God, was in Jesus in bodily form? This is the supremacy of Christ. And for the second week, we get to look at it. Last week, we saw Christ's supremacy as God's visible image, look again at Verse 15, "He is the image of the invisible God." The image of the invisible God, so if you're looking at Christ, you're seeing God. Christ’s Supremacy Over the Spiritual and Physical Universes We saw also last week Christ's supremacy over the physical universe. Verses 15 and following, “He is the image of the invisible God,” it says, "the firstborn over all creation. For by Him, all things were created." And so we saw Christ's role as creator of the universe, Christ's role as firstborn, established in a position of authority over the universe. We said that the universe was created by Christ. The universe was also created for Christ. And we said in a very mysterious way that the universe is, moment by moment, dependent on Christ for its very existence. That in Him all things hold together, and so that God, through Christ, created a needy universe. It needs Jesus, and so do you and I. And we see the supremacy of Christ, we saw it last week in his rulership over the spiritual universe as well. Again, the Colossian heresy was that Jesus is a created being, not fully God, and not fully human. Because matter, physical stuff, is evil, so they said. The Earth, the physical world, is evil, so God would never have taken on a human body. And actually salvation, they said, was to be liberated from this physical stuff and brought into an out-of-body, pure spiritual experience. And the way that that happened is if you had fullness given to you through special philosophies, that they alone could teach you, and by asceticism and legalism and various harsh treatments of the body, so that you could be liberated from this physical world and go into that pure spirit world. Well, fundamentally it's flawed, right at the very beginning with its consideration of who Jesus of Nazareth was and is. And so Paul refutes it by saying that Christ actually is supreme over the spiritual universe. He created it, he sustains it, “whether thrones, or powers, or rulers, or authorities, all things created by him and for him, and in him they all hold together.” I was talking with someone this morning and they're saying, "What a deep thought and how difficult it is to conceive of Jesus continually holding Satan's being together for his own mysterious purposes." But that's the universe that Colossians teaches. And so we saw Christ's supremacy last week. Now, we're going to see Christ's supremacy concerning the church. Christ’s Supremacy Over the Church We're going to see his supremacy over the church presently, and we see his supremacy in what he did so that the church would be blameless and free from accusation before God. We will see the supremacy, therefore, of the cross of Jesus Christ today. Now for myself, I yearn to preach the cross every week. I yearn to proclaim Christ so clearly, Christ crucified so clearly, that anybody who came and listened, not knowing Christ as their personal Savior, that they would hear the gospel plainly and clearly, and that they would be able to be saved. They wouldn't walk away saying, "What do I have to do to be saved?" They would know. Furthermore, following Charles Spurgeon, I expect and trust and hope that God brought someone like that here today. Maybe it's you, I don't know. I don't know who you are, but I want to speak to your heart if you're that person, that you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, today, this morning, you will hear everything you need to be saved today. So listen carefully and it could be, while you listen, that God the Holy Spirit will kindle faith within your heart and God the Father, seeing that faith, will justify you forever and you will be righteous in his sight for eternity. It could be that'll happen this very morning, and I have prayed for it to happen. Christ is the Head of the Church So let's look at the supremacy of Christ over the church. Look at Verse 18, speaking of Christ, "He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything, he might have the supremacy." So Christ here is presented as the head of the church. Now, many different analogies are used for the church, the people of God, in the Bible. The body analogy used here is only one of them. There are actually many different ones. There's an image in 1 Peter 2 of the church as a holy temple and we, like “living stones, are built together into that holy temple.” We're offering spiritual sacrifices constantly to God, a sacrificial image, and we're the temple and we're offering also, as the priesthood, the sacrifices to God. In another sense, we are like a family of God. Jesus, like an elder brother, and “he's not ashamed to be made like his brothers so that in everything he might share with us, even being tempted like we were yet was without sin.” So there's a sense of a family of God with God as our Father. Or a royal kingdom, a sense that we are part of a royal kingdom. He, the king, and we, kings and queens, under Him, rulers under His highest authority. We are a vineyard in another place. We are a flock with a shepherd tending us. We are a bride heading toward the day of our wedding. But this image of the body is used in a number of places, used in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14, a picture of the body, the church like a body. It's used in Romans 12, and it's used here in Colossians, and also in Ephesians. Christ is the head of the body. Now, if the church is a body, what that means, as Christ as our head, is that He rules over it, he directs its movements. And all functions in the body exist to serve the head and the head governs all. The heart beats when the signals go forth from the head. The lungs breathe when the signals go forth from the head. Christ is the head of the church. Christ is the Source of the Church The scripture here also says that Christ is the source of the church. The word "arche" means beginning or source, so you think about the source of the river. If the church is like a river, then Christ is the source or the headwaters of the river and the church flows forth. Now, we believe that God ordained the church in His mind before the creation of the world. It says in Ephesians that we were “chosen in Christ before the creation of the world,” and so therefore it is in Christ that we exist. Christ is the arche, the beginning of the church, because before the creation of the world, before there was any time, God the Father saw us in Christ. We could also say that in space and time and the fullness of time, Jesus Christ, having taken on a human body, died on the cross, shed His blood for us. God raised him from the dead on the third day, He sent the Holy Spirit through the Son, and that is the beginning of the church. The day of Pentecost founded on the work, the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, the empty tomb. In that way also, in history, Jesus is the beginning of the church. There wasn't a church before Jesus came and did that work. And so Christ is the source of the church. Christ is the Firstborn from the Dead He is also, it says, “the firstborn from the dead.” Though Christ was not the first to be resuscitated after death, actually, many others, He himself raised people from the dead, yet Jesus is still “the firstborn from the dead.” We say this in two senses. First of all, He is in the position of preeminence. He's the greatest of all that have been raised from the dead, but also, temporally in time, He's the first and, at present, the only one with a resurrection body. Lazarus died again. The little girl that He raised from the dead, she's dead now, physically separated from her body. All of the people that Jesus raised, all the people, the apostles raised from the dead, all of them are dead now. But Jesus lives. He lives forever, and He will never again be separated from that body that God gave Him on the third day. He is in a resurrection body, and so He is “the firstborn from among the dead.” And there will come a time that “a great multitude, greater than anyone can count, from every tribe and language and people and nation will stand around the throne” also, all of us, in resurrection bodies, He will still be the firstborn from among the dead. He will be in the position of preeminence, even when we have our resurrection bodies. And, by the way, that is the only perfect healing there is in this universe, the only healing there is for AIDS, the only healing there is for cancer, for diabetes, for all of these dreaded illnesses. It is a resurrection body given you by God. Amen? And that is the future. That's where we're heading, free from all death, and mourning, and crying, and pain, with Jesus as the firstborn from among the dead. That is our hope, and we yearn for that, everyday brings us closer. Be happy. Don't worry about aging. Do what you need to do, but don't worry about aging because everyday brings us closer. Christ is Supreme Over All Things for the Church It says also that Christ is supreme over all things for the church. And from this, I got my sermon title over the last two weeks, this week and last week. "So that in everything," Verse 18, "He might have the supremacy." We should be falling down in awe before Jesus Christ. And it's only because of the dullness and the dimness of our faith that we don't. Someday we will. “Every knee will bow, and we will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” and we'll be glad to do it. And we will fall down before Him as the 24 elders, and we'll cast our crowns before Him, and we will honor Him because, in everything for the church, He has the supremacy. No human being can take that role from Him. It is His. He earned it. For He's the only one who shed His blood for the church, and how many human beings in history have forgotten that? I was raised Roman Catholic. It is appalling some of the things that Catholic theologians say about the role of the Bishop of Rome called the Pope. It's amazing the statements they make. For example, Pope Leo the XIII, in an encyclical letter in 1894, he said this, "We, Popes, we hold upon this Earth, the place of God Almighty." Or this one, "The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, he is Jesus Christ himself, hidden under the veil of flesh." Do you believe that? No, no, no. "So that in everything, he might have the supremacy." Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees that “they like to walk around in the marketplaces with flowing robes and to be greeted and given titles of honor and the most important seats at the banquets and the synagogues, and to be called rabbi with these important titles.” But he said, you're not to be called rabbi for you're all brothers and you have one master, one teacher, Christ. But it isn't just the Catholics, even in some Baptist churches or other Protestant churches, some human beings arrogate to themselves positions of honor that are inappropriate. Pastors can be that way, taking a tyrannical view of their own authority. So also can lay leaders or even committee chairs. It can happen. We forget who we are. We forget that, “in everything, Christ might have the supremacy.” They think too highly of themselves. But I tell you it is impossible, it is impossible to think too highly of Christ. You can't do it. You cannot do it. There's not a man or a woman or a child in this sanctuary today that is presently thinking too highly of Christ. Though I've been preaching about 10 minutes about the supremacy of Christ, and perhaps you think more highly of Jesus than you did before you walked in this room, you still don't think highly enough of Jesus. And so therefore, in sanctification and growth and holiness, it's always a yearning that we think more and more and more highly of Jesus. “Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together,” make Him greater, make Him greater. And that's what this meditation is all about, that Christ, in everything, may have the supremacy. Christ’s Supremacy in Our Reconciliation God’s Pleasure in Our Salvation He is supreme over the church, but He's also supreme over the actual process of our reconciliation. God ordained the salvation plan where He gets all the glory and we get all the joy. Isn't that wonderful? Are you willing for that agreement? He gets the glory, we get the joy. We get to be in heaven forever. We get to enjoy all of these rich blessings. We're just stripped of our pride in the process. Are you willing for that? I'm willing. We enter through the narrow gate, we stoop, we're stripped of all of our good works and all of our pride, and God, in His wisdom, ordained that He would get the glory through His Son, Jesus Christ. And therefore, He gives glory to Christ here through the Apostle Paul. Look at Verse 19 through 23, "For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross, once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now, He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant." Christ's supremacy, in our reconciliation, is proclaimed in these verses. He is supreme in that process. But notice how it begins. It begins with the pleasure of God the Father in all of it. Do you see it in Verse 19? "For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him." God was pleased, though the focus here has been on Christ, yet it was the plan and purpose of the Father to set in motion the salvation of the church through His Son, Jesus Christ. And God was pleased to have it. This whole thing, the whole salvation process, pleases God the Father. It brings Him joy. Ain't that wonderful? Meditate on that. God is a pleased being. Otherwise, would you want to spend eternity with Him? Think about that. Enter into the joy of your master. I want to go where there's joy, don't you? Eternal joy. Well, that's in God's presence, at His right hand. God is a pleased being. "Our God," it says in Psalm 115:3, "is in heaven. He does whatever pleases Him." I guess that means He doesn't do anything that irritates Him. He only does those things that please Him, those things that were down to His glory, that display His nature, that's what he does. Christ spoke so beautifully in Luke 12:32 of the delight of the Father in giving us the kingdom. I love the KJV in particular here. "Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." Meditate on that. God enjoys doing this. He really does. He enjoys saving people “from every tribe and language of people and nation.” He enjoyed saving you. And as a matter of fact, the scripture reveals that there was more joy in heaven over your salvation than over the sustaining work of grace and a hundred other people that didn't need it. You see? He celebrated the day you came to faith in Christ and the angels, saying, "Oh," they reacted and celebrated, too. We should never think the angels precede the Father in anything. The angels responded to God's joyful celebration. It is God's good pleasure to save you. It's His good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Well, here in these verses, God's pleasure extends to every detail of reconciliation. God was pleased, first of all, to have all His fullness in a human body, in His Son. He was pleased also to reconcile us through Christ's death. Yes, pleased. And we'll talk more about that in a moment. He was delighted to welcome us even though we were hostile enemies, enemies in our minds as displayed by our evil behavior. He is pleased to present each one of us to Himself holy and blameless, free from any kind of accusation. All of these things bring Him pleasure. God's pleasure extends to the entire salvation plan. Christ’s Incarnation Look at the first part, Christ's incarnation. "For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him." Christ is full of God. He's full of God's power, full of God's mercy, full of God's compassion, full of God's love. He is full of God. God didn't hold anything back from His own Son. He fully reveals himself to His Son. He didn't just reveal Himself, He poured Himself into His Son. All of His fullness dwelling in Christ, even in bodily form. Now, this is a point that Paul makes again in Colossians 2:9 and 10, we've already quoted it, listen again, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." The Colossian heretics denied that Jesus was human. They denied that He had a body. Jesus had a body, He has a body now. So therefore, if you had been walking along one of those dusty roads of Palestine, you could have shaken His hand, you could have put your arm around His shoulder, you could have looked Him in the face, you could have touched His beard. All of these things were part of His physical presence, and God was delighted for the incarnation. It is also foolishness to some people, isn't it? As we mentioned last week, foolishness to Thomas Jefferson, foolishness to so many unbelievers that God could take on a human body, but God was pleased to do it. God’s Plan for Comprehensive Reconciliation Secondly, we see also God's glorious plan for a comprehensive reconciliation. Verse 20, "And through Him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven." The word "reconciliation" is potent, isn't it? It has to do with broken relationships. It has to do with things that were together that are now blown apart, and the most explosive power there's ever been in the universe is sin. Greater than any fertilizer bomb that blew up half of a building somewhere. You've seen the pictures like in Oklahoma City and all that, the effects of a bomb like that, that is nothing compared to what sin has done in the universe. Nothing. All of the broken relationships there's ever been, all of the wars, all of the conflicts, and that bombing included in all of that, all of that part of sin. And it's amazing, therefore, the healing and the pulling together work of Jesus on the cross, taking these particles that have been blown apart and drawing them back together to be reconciled to God, reconciled and brought back into a right and sweet relationship with God. How wonderful is that? The universe itself, the physical universe was cursed, estranged in some sense from God's original pattern, subjected to frustration by human sin. And so the present creation is groaning, it says, "as in the pains of childbirth until it can be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." So the physical world needed to be reconciled, so also human beings. God's marvelous plan, therefore, is to reconcile all things back to himself. Now, don't misunderstand. This is not teaching universalism, it's not teaching that Hell will be empty, it's not in any way teaching the reconciliation of Satan and God, they will not be reconciled, but rather reconciliation of all categories of things, both visible and invisible. All of these things are being brought back together through Christ's work on the cross under one head, God. And so it says in 1 Corinthians 15, "Then the end will come, when He,” Christ, “hands over the Kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” “And when He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all." Do you see how Christ is pulling everything back together? The opposite of the image of the Big Bang. All of these things pulled back together in Christ's redemptive work and handed back to the Father, then Christ Himself subject to the Father “so that God may be all in all.” And that is powerful. Christ’s Blood Atonement The most powerful work in history, therefore, is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And we see it in His blood, look at Verse 20, "Through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross." The marvelous plan of God, therefore, is blood atonement. We'll never get tired of speaking about the blood, we'll never get embarrassed about the blood. We must speak of the blood because this is the way that God humbles us, the way that God shows us our role because it was through human sin that this explosion happened, and therefore, since the wages of sin is death, it is only by the death of a man, Jesus, the bloodshed on the cross, that all of this reconciliation can come about, and so it's through the bloodshed on the cross. And therefore, let's go back to the beginning, God was pleased to shed the blood of His Son. This is holy ground, friends. I don't fully understand this. The things I'm about to say over the next two or three minutes, I don't fully understand them. I believe in my heart that they're true, but I don't fully understand it. How can God the Father be pleased to shed the blood of His own Son? How does He find pleasure in that? Most fathers would rather die than see their own sons die. They'd take the place of their sons, they don't want to bury their children. They face great threats and great danger to save their children from death. Speaking of this, some time ago I heard a story of a father who was with two other men and his teenage son fishing in Alaska, and their seaplane took on some water, frigid waters, and the three men made it to the shore, but the young man was not able to swim, his limbs were so stiff, so the father swam back out to be with his son. He didn't think he'd be able to rescue him and in the end he didn't, but he'd rather be with him than live without him. Now, I can understand that. I can understand that, I'm a father of five children. I can understand a father that will sacrifice or lay down his own life to save his children. I don't understand a father that would act to kill his children except as a monster. I heard another story, and I've related it to you. I love reading work by Voice of the Martyrs and reading martyr stories, even modern martyr stories. And some time ago, I read this story by Richard Wurmbrand of a Romanian pastor, Pastor Florescu, who was arrested by the communist forces before the fall of communism and was being beaten and tortured in the cell that he would give up the names of his church members, who were the men and women that came and worshipped with him, and he wouldn't give in. And they would beat him, they would cut him with knives, they would bleed him, and then they'd put them back in his cell, and they would force large rats into his cell through a drain pipe at night so that if he tried to sleep, they would gnaw on his flesh. So he basically had to beat the rats off all evening long, standing up the whole time. This went on for two weeks. They're beating him down, beating him down, but he still won't give up the names, until they bring in his 14-year-old son Alexander and they start beating him. And it's pretty clear that they mean to kill him, there's no question about it. And at this point, this man, Pastor Florescu, is just crazed with fatigue and pain and agony, mental anguish of watching his own son, who was a Christian, getting beaten probably to death. He said, "I can't take it anymore. Son, I've gotta tell them what they want to know." And his son, I'll never forget this, he said, he said, "Father, don't do me the injustice of making me the son of a traitor to our Lord Jesus Christ." And so he held back while his son was tortured to death, blood spattering the walls and the ceiling, tortured to death. I can understand a father like that, but a father who will do the torturing, I don't understand. And yet, this is what the scripture says. Isaiah 53:10, it says, "The Lord was pleased to crush him and cause him to suffer. And though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand." Here's the thing, Jesus died on the cross. As He saw the cross coming toward Him, it was for the joy set before Him that He endured the cross despising its shame. There was nothing in the process that He delighted in, it was in the product that He delighted in. And so also I understand the Father's pleasure in crushing His Son. There is no pleasure in the thing itself, but there is eternal pleasure in what it produced in your life and mine. The Lord was pleased to do it. He was pleased to shed the blood of His Son. He was pleased to pour out His active wrath on His own Son. He was pleased to go through the process of having His only begotten Son cry out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He was pleased to listen to that, being omnipotent still not exert any power toward rescuing His Son, but only pour on the wrath more until Jesus spoke the words ending it, "It is finished." And then it was done. And God was pleased to do it. Not the process my friends, but so that you and I could stand before Him blameless, and unafraid, and unashamed of His coming, that we might spend eternity in His presence. We, sinners. We, who are, at one point, alienated from Him and hostile enemies in our minds, because of our evil behavior, we were the ones He rescued and He saved us. The Infinite Journey of Our Reconciliation Like I said, it's holy ground and I cannot fully understand it, but it's what the scripture teaches. And I think you and I ought to spend time meditating on the infinite journey of our reconciliation. “We were, at one time, hostile to God. We were dead in our transgressions and sins.” We weren't basically good people. I know you said you were, "I'm basically a good person." No, you aren't. No, you weren't. You were dead in your transgressions and sins, and so was I. But we are the kind of people that he saved. We are the ones, look what the text says, Verse 21, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior." "The mind of the flesh," it says in Romans, "is death." We displayed this internal hostility to God by disobeying his commands. We broke all of the Ten Commandments. Whether you actually murdered someone or not, whether you actually committed adultery or not, Jesus said that if you have been angry at someone, you've murdered them in your heart. If you have looked lustfully to a woman, you have committed adultery in your heart. Jesus said these things. We've had other gods besides God. We have coveted. We have lied. We have stolen. We have broken the Ten Commandments. And we have broken the two great commandments, the summary of all of the law. We didn't “love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We did not love our neighbors ourselves.” “We were alienated from God.” We were enemies. And through the blood shed on the cross, He has reconciled us fully to God. And how sweet is that? But now, He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith. He has reconciled us, reconciled us fully. And what does this mean? It means we're without blemish. Nothing's wrong with God's eyes, by the way. He still sees well. Even though he's the Ancient of Days, He still sees as well as He ever did. His eyes are still pure to look on evil. He can't look at it, and yet He gazes on you and says, "My beloved." How does He do that? It's the intervening blood shed on the cross for you. It's the perfect righteousness with which you are now clothed. You have been reconciled to God, fully reconciled, and you are free from accusation. Satan's going to be quite busy on Judgment Day, trust me. He will not have any time to fling accusations your way. You are free forever. Who shall bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? “It's God who justifies, who dares condemn?” We are free from accusation. The Ongoing Ministry of the Gospel: “IF you continue…” "If," does that word bother you, by the way? If. There's a condition to all of this, “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out.” If you continue. You say, "Well, now wait a minute, Pastor, I thought you were one of those that believes in once saved always saved. I thought you can't lose your salvation. You mean I have to kind of keep doing things?" But it does say, "If," doesn't it? If you continue, I say, then you have been saved. That's the way I look at it. If you continue. Some people look on salvation, I was saying to the new member class this morning, look on salvation like one of those acrylic dried flower paperweights. Eternally beautiful, never changes, beautiful purple flowers inside an acrylic casing. They look on their faith that way. That is not biblical. God has given you a plant, it needs nourishment, it needs sunshine and water, or it will die. All he's saying is that what the plant needs it will get. He will nourish your faith until the day you need it no longer. When faith becomes side and “you don't need faith anymore, you will see Him face to face.” He will nourish it because He who began that good work in you will, what, He will carry it on to completion. So you must continue. You must keep coming to church. You must keep reading your Bible. You must keep praying. You must keep obeying and following the indwelling Spirit as He leads you. You must, if you want to be finally saved in the end. Application Now, what application do we take from all of this? First of all, have you trusted in Christ? Did God bring you here today as the answer to my prayer? Lord, please bring someone here who is not saved. Please bring someone here who needs to hear this gospel. I told you you would hear everything you needed to be saved. You've heard it today. Jesus is the Son of God. He died on the cross. He shed His blood under the wrath and curse of God Almighty to free us from all of the guilt that we deserve for our transgressions of His law. You've heard all of that. There is ample free grace available for you. Trust in Christ. Trust in Him. All you need to do is turn to Jesus right now in your heart and say, "Jesus, I can't survive Judgement Day without you. Please save me from my sins. Save me now that I might have eternal life." For those of you who have already made that commitment, you're in the "if" stage now, if you continue. Are you continuing? Are you continuing to feed your faith with the Word of God? Let's start here. Thank God for the reconciliation we heard about today. Thank God that it was His pleasure to save you. He enjoys saving you. Thank God for it. Feed your faith, and talk to yourself. Preach to yourself. Preach to yourself, say "I'm forgiven. I am forgiven. I'm reconciled. God is at peace with me. I stand in the righteousness of Jesus right now. I can't be more righteous in God's sight than I am right now in Jesus. He has forgiven me. On judgement day, I will stand blameless and unafraid. I am forgiven." Say that to yourself and thank God for it, and then feed your faith. Learn to trust Christ for more and more in the future. Step out in faith. At the end of this, he says that he has become a servant of the gospel. Step out in faith and become a servant of the gospel. There are people surrounding us right now who are not reconciled to God. Do you have a ministry to them? Do you open your mouth and say anything about these wonderful truths we've been looking at today? Do you have a ministry? It was a great week at First Baptist Church this week. A wonderful new ministry called Jobs For Life started. You may have heard about it. We have some wonderful dedicated servants that have worked hard to make this thing happen. We had our first time on Thursday evening. It's a Bible-based curriculum, helping people to get and keep jobs based on teaching a scripture. These are unbelievers that are coming into our church on Tuesdays and Thursdays to be trained by some wonderful people, members of this church, on how to get and keep a job, and there's a promise of some companies out here that are eager to hire graduates of this program. That's the attraction to them. We're hoping they'll find an even greater attraction though. Jesus. We want them to find Christ. What would it profit a man or woman to get a job and lose their soul? Alright? Yes, they need a job and we want to help them with that. It's Christ-like to minister to temporal needs. But we need some laborers for that harvest field, friends. We had 14 students on Thursday evening, nine women and five men. And we need mentors who will build relationships with these folks and help them through the first few months, many months perhaps, of their job, and more than that get to know them in Christ and lead them to faith in Christ perhaps, and disciple them after they've come to faith in Christ. I'd like to see some of them baptized right up here. If that ministry doesn't appeal to you, that's fine. Alright? One part of the body is a toe, another a hand, another an eye. We have different functions. You should care, and pray, but what is your ministry? Are you a partner with Christ in the gospel? The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. Are you involved in that? Are you a partner, a sharer in the gospel ministry? Close with me in prayer.