Love God - Love His Word [26:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

a message by Don Veldboom, Associate Pastor from selected passages in Psalms 119 [+/-]Psalm 119 [119:1] Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! [2]Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, [3]who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! [4]You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. [5]Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! [6]Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. [7]I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. [8]I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me! [9]How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. [10]With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! [11]I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. [12]Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! [13]With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. [14]In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. [15]I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. [16]I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. [17]Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. [18]Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. [19]I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! [20]My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. [21]You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments. [22]Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies. [23]Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. [24]Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. [25]My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! [26]When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes! [27]Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. [28]My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! [29]Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! [30]I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. [31]I cling to your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame! [32]I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! [33]Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. [34]Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. [35]Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. [36]Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! [37]Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. [38]Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared. [39]Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. [40]Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life! [41]Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; [42]then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your word. [43]And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules. [44]I will keep your law continually, forever and ever, [45]and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts. [46]I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame, [47]for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. [48]I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes. [49]Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. [50]This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. [51]The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law. [52]When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O LORD. [53]Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law. [54]Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning. [55]I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law. [56]This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts. [57]The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep your words. [58]I entreat your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. [59]When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies; [60]I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. [61]Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. [62]At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules. [63]I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. [64]The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes! [65]You have dealt well with your servant, O LORD, according to your word. [66]Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. [67]Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. [68]You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. [69]The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; [70]their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. [71]It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. [72]The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. [73]Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. [74]Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. [75]I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. [76]Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant. [77]Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight. [78]Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts. [79]Let those who fear you turn to me, that they may know your testimonies. [80]May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame! [81]My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word. [82]My eyes long for your promise; I ask, "When will you comfort me?" [83]For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes. [84]How long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me? [85]The insolent have dug pitfalls for me; they do not live according to your law. [86]All your commandments are sure; they persecute me with falsehood; help me! [87]They have almost made an end of me on earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts. [88]In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth. [89]Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. [90]Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. [91]By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants. [92]If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. [93]I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. [94]I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts. [95]The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies. [96]I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad. [97]Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. [98]Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. [99]I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. [100]I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. [101]I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. [102]I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. [103]How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! [104]Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. [105]Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. [106]I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. [107]I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word! [108]Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your rules. [109]I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. [110]The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. [111]Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. [112]I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. [113]I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. [114]You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. [115]Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God. [116]Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! [117]Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually! [118]You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain. [119]All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies. [120]My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments. [121]I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors. [122]Give your servant a pledge of good; let not the insolent oppress me. [123]My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise. [124]Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes. [125]I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies! [126]It is time for the LORD to act, for your law has been broken. [127]Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold. [128]Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way. [129]Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. [130]The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. [131]I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. [132]Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name. [133]Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. [134]Redeem me from man's oppression, that I may keep your precepts. [135]Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. [136]My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law. [137]Righteous are you, O LORD, and right are your rules. [138]You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness. [139]My zeal consumes me, because my foes forget your words. [140]Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it. [141]I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts. [142]Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true. [143]Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight. [144]Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live. [145]With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD! I will keep your statutes. [146]I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies. [147]I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. [148]My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. [149]Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O LORD, according to your justice give me life. [150]They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law. [151]But you are near, O LORD, and all your commandments are true. [152]Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever. [153]Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law. [154]Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise! [155]Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes. [156]Great is your mercy, O LORD; give me life according to your rules. [157]Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies. [158]I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands. [159]Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love. [160]The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. [161]Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words. [162]I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil. [163]I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law. [164]Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules. [165]Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. [166]I hope for your salvation, O LORD, and I do your commandments. [167]My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly. [168]I keep your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before you. [169]Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word! [170]Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word. [171]My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes. [172]My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right. [173]Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. [174]I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight. [175]Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me. [176]I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

I am just before leaving for the beach.  Anne and I will be joined by our immediate family and her family to enjoy a week at Hilton Head.  I am looking forward to the week and will be seekng both to relax and to be refreshed.  I want to have time with the family and time alone.  I want to read a lot.  I want walk on the beach in the early morning and listen to Piper sermons and Sproul lectures.  I want to enjoy my quiet time watching the sun come up and I want to enjoy watching the sun go down each night.  I am looking forward to it and  I need it.  A vacation is nice and necessary.  But we have taken in our society that necessary time and very nice word and turned it into a plural and a passion.  Here is the unseen and unaddressed idol for far too many in our culture.

Western Eurpoe has become the culture alone that exceeds ours in shorter work hours and longer play periods or vacations/holidays.  We are right behind them.  There was a time in both when a work week was not measured by the clock but by the sun.  One worked simply from the time the sun rose until the time the sun set.  A vacation or a holiday was usually one week per year and in our culture that week revolved around Indenpendence Day that was spent is some relaxing activities.  But no more.  We measure a work week now by hours.  We measure vacation by multiples.  Very few who are under my age would ever be satisfied with a week away out of fifty-two; I know some who feel unappreciated and unloved if they don’t get away at least one weekend out of every month and four to six weeks a year.  We cruise.  We cavort.  We commit ourselves almost unashamedly to the pursuit of personal pleasure.  And we justify it by the stress in our lives due to the work in which we are engaged.

We need in our culture a recovery of the realities of the Reformation at least one of which was the understaning of work as “vocation.’  John Calvin the great magisterial reformer in Geneva would teach that all work is given to us by God and is to be engaged in for His glory.  He taught in fact that we will be judged by the way we do our work because all of life is lived out under the sovereignty of God and is to be lived for His glory.  Steve Lawson in a recent and very brilliant lecutre on Calvin reminded his listeners that it is no accident of history that the best watches came from Geneva.  Those men and women were raised in an environment where they were taught to do their work as unto the Lord so as to bring paise to His name.  Is that the way we do our work?  Do we recognize that we will be judged as much by how we work as by how we worship?  And do we see at all that a life lived only or ultimately for the pursuit of pleasure not only does not please God but also is idolatrous?

I am ready for a week at the beach.  In fact, when I finish this little bit; I will be wrapping up my morning at the office and will begin this afternoon to set my affections toward the sun and surf.  That is good and right.  But if at the end of the week, I am on my way home grieving over the ending of the week and looking forward to the next pleasure pursuit, then I could be in danger of worshipping a false god at a fake altar.  I do believe that the pursuit of pleasure is for many a way to escape a very painful life.  It allows them to live with some fantasy while not being able to face reality.  That is idolatry.  God calls us to live in the context of reality with joy in what we do knowing that whatever pain or problems we face, God’s grace is always sufficient.

I.  The Nature and Character of the Book as Apocalyptic

A.  Most unique book in the New Testament and in the canon with the exception of Daniel in the Old Testament.  Uniqueness tied to its clear identity as the “unveiling of Jesus Christ,” 1:1 or as an Apocalypse.

B.  Characteristics of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature

1.  Pseudonymity so that the writer wrote in the name of some ancient and revered person, e.g.;  Baruch, Enoch, etc.  The Book of Revelation is clearly from the apostle John with some suggesting John the Elder but clearly not an unknown writer;

2.  Conflict between the forces of good and evil with the outcome either unknown or known in the end; The Book of Revelation is the celebration of the victory that has been won for us in Jesus Christ.  Even the forces of darkness are under His complete control.

3.  Historical Contexts are contrived so that they have little or no meaning.  The Book of Revelation is written just as the Book of Daniel in a very clear and very precise historical context.

4.  Symbols often function in a variety of ways with a variety of meanings (multivalent) while the symbols in the Book of Revelation have very clear and concrete connections, e.g.; the One who is riding forth on a white horse is very clearly the Lord Jesus Christ. Read more here! »

I am writing in this post about an issue that has always disturbed me.  It is the very reason that I am so hesitant when the church gets involved in political issues to the extent that we define ourselves by one party affiliation over against all others.  For example, it seems to me in our society that if someone professes to be a Christian and is aligned with the Democratic party; some will look at them and think if not say, “how could you think that way?”  I have met some who are define their “devotion” to Jesus far more politically than they do in the practice of the Christian life.  I know people who will walk the streets to push a Republical platform agenda but would not walk across the street to tell their lost neighbor how they can be saved.  I am pro-life. I am strongly pro-life but I know people who will attend a pro-life rally to wave banners and shout slogans who wouldn’t take a Bible and preach the Gospel in front of Bi-Lo or Walgreens.  I don’t understand it.  I know which of those issues is most important.  There is no doubt in my mind.  And all of these things that I have mentioned till now concern me, and concern me deeply; but they are not the supreme political irony of which I speak.  That one shows up for me in relationship to the issue of the Constitution and the appointment of Justices of the Supreme Court.

The Conservatives want a Conservative as do I and for reasons that I fully support:  The Constitution is not a fluid document.  Two views of the Constitution are held in our culture.  The first is that the Constitution is a fixed document that is to be interpreted based upon what it meant whent it was written with that meaing fixed for all time and adaptable to different cultural circumstances.  But the words of the Contstitution and the construct of the Constitution does not change.  This view is the one held by most conservatives.  The second view which is held by most liberals is that the Constitution is fluid.  We must allow the circumstances and conditions in which we live give direction to how we read the Constitution.  For example, what freedom of speech meant when the words were framed is not what it means now because circumstances have changed.  What marriage was when the Constitution was written does not bind us in defining and determining what marriage is in our day.  This view holds that the Constitution is an ever emerging and ever changing document so that what it meant then simply becomes the first step in our understanding what it means now.

I have not met a card carrying political Republican who would hold the liberal view of the Constitution but I have met a bunch of them who would hold a liberal view of the Bible.  Herein is the supreme irony.  Most card carrying Republicans that I have met are constitutional conservatives who hold that what the Constitution meant is exactly what it means, but I have met a whole host of them who would not apply that same principle to the Bible.  And I would not even hold in the same category the Bible which is the Word of God with the Constitution which isn’t even close to being the Word of God.  Yet, I have met men and women who have a higher view of the Constitution than they do of the Bible.  That is a supreme irony for which I have no explanation. The outcome is a political conservative who is a religious liberal.  He wants the interpretation of the Constitution fixed while he wants what the Bible says to be fluid.

I can give you at least one reason for this in the south.  Many political conservatives in the south are also solid racists.  Many of these people still want blacks and other races to bow to the anglos as the superior race.  They know if they have any sense at all that there is no justification for this sinisterly sinful attitude in the Scripture.  I contend and I think correctly that no person can hold this kind of racist attitude and be saved.  So, these who hold these horrid racist views find succor in the Constitution as it was interpreted and lived out in the segregated society of the South in the fifties.  Can I also say that every time I hear someone speak of that time as the “good ole days” I get sick at my stomach.  Never has a society been as far away from God as we were while packing our churches to the full.  I think it is one reason that so many kids who were in church during those days, went off to school, and came back home but not back to church because they saw rightly the blatant hyporcrisy of so many that even now is without remorse or repentance.

Political conservatism wed to religious liberalism is the religion of the south among many.  But it is not what is found in the Bible.  I am a conservative when it comes to the Constitution.  It means what it meant. I am even more rigidly that when it comes to the Holy and Inerrant Word of God.

Daniel 1:1-21 [+/-]Daniel 1 [1:1]In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. [2]And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. [3]Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, [4]youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. [5]The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. [6]Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. [7]And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. [8]But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. [9]And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, [10]and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king." [11]Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, [12]"Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. [13]Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see." [14]So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. [15]At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. [16]So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. [17]As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. [18]At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. [19]And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. [20]And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. [21]And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. (ESV)

I. Some Clean up Issues

A. First, Remember that the approach that I am taking to Daniel and the companion Apocalyptic in the New Testament is the approach of HISTORICAL PREMILLENAILLISM. This means first that the historical context becomes the primary environment for understanding the future so that we interpret what is to be “analogously” by what is given us in the context of the history. Second, this approach means that the church goes through at least some of the Tribulation period if not all so that this approach would not hold to a rapture of the church prior to the Tribulation. Third, this approach sees Israel in a two-fold way: on the one side Israel is an important entity as geo-political-national entity. In other words, the existence of the state of Israel is important to the purposes of God in the end time. Read more here! »

I am not saying that you do.  I do from time to time because I see too much of the mockery of prayer.  I hear people talk about prayer as if it is some kind of magic wand that we wave before God to get him to do our bidding.  Pity the person who says something sinister like, “I prayed and look what God did.”  How arrogant.  How awfully arrogant.  Or even as one said to me, “nothing was happening in that situation until I prayed, and God worked.”  I wouldn’t want to hang to closely to a person with that kind of perspective.  Even though I know that there are some who are closer to God than others, those whom I have known who are closest to God would never use those kinds of words.  The closer we get to the holy the more we see our sinfulness and the more humilliated we are in His presence.  Humiliated, that’s right.  It is the grace of God alone taht allows us to go from abject humiliation to humility in His holy presence.  So, even though I have heard people make a mockery of prayer and its purpose in the plans of God, I know that God hears and answers the prayers of His people.  I saw evidence of that this weekend.

Anne and I along with our son, his wife, and our grandaugher attended my Aunt’s eightieth birthday party.  Now this Aunt isn’t just any aunt.  Her name is Leila.  That is what we always called her, not “aunt Leila,” but “Leila.”  She was married to a bald banker named “Harold.”  They had no children.  Well, they had no children of their own.  But they had a bunch of neices and nephews, eleven to be exact from the oldest whose name is Marty to the youngest whose name is Karla.  And our love for Leila was seen yesterday when all but one of the nieces and nephews and all of our families except those who like our daughter live too far away to come, came together to celebrate her birthday.  As I prayed yesterday at the luncheon:  Leila was used of God to teach us how to laugh and to love but most of all how to live.  She was always, always there for us.  Even now I get tearful thinking that as bad as it sometimes got in my teen years, she was always there; and she has been there since then.  She is one of those one of a kind people.  And we gathered to celebrate her birthday.  It was during the celebration that God taught me a huge lesson about prayer.

Leila’s Mother, my grandmother or “Big Mama” to all of us in the family was a mighty warrior in prayer.  She was fastidious in her faithfulness in praying.  She prayed for every member of our family.  I am saved and being sanctified, serving  joyfully as a preacher of the Gospel because Big Mama kept praying for me.  She told me that.  In fact, when I went to tell her that I was saved, she just smiled and told me that she knew that God was going to saved me and that I would preach His Word.  She said it so matter of factly that when God did call me I thought then for sure that Big Mama had an inside track to the throne room.  It was while I was reflecting on her as a prayer warrior that two realities in this huge family hit me.

First, with only two exceptions, every niece and nephew is once married.  No divorces.  Some near deaths, but no divorces.  Just kidding.  And so far among the children of the nieces and nephews there are only two divorces that I know of and they are both unfortunately in my part of the clan.  That is amazing in our day.  Most family get togethers like this anymore include children from first, second and third marriages.  Not ours.  Give praise to God.  Second, I sat around yesterday and talked “theology” with five of my cousins.  It gets better.  They are all ,with the exception of my brother who was not present for the occassion, the men in our generation of the family.  And all of them in a very much unplanned way sat and talked together about what is going on in the modern church and how it is that we can go about reaching people with the Gospel.  It was fabulous.  And it got better.  One of my cousins has a daughter who is a married to a wonderful man who just completed his first year at Southern Seminary.  So, this young man and I exchanged phone numbers and emails because he is committed to Biblical Counseling which is one of my passions.

I left yesterday praising God for Leila.  She is now and has always been a great source of encouragement and joy in my life.  I love her.  She loves me and all the other “kids” in our family.  But I really thanked God for a praying grandmother.  I think that she got to see yesterday some of the fruit of  her faithfulness.

 

 God in hostile places, in uncertain times [40:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Acts 17:16-34 [+/-]Acts 17:16-34 [16]Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. [17]So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. [18]Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"-- because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. [19]And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? [20]For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean." [21]Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. [22]So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. [23]For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. [24]The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, [25]nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. [26]And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, [27]that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, [28]for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' [29]Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. [30]The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, [31]because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." [32]Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about this." [33]So Paul went out from their midst. [34]But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. (ESV)

Youth Pastor Mike Godfrey has an encouraging message to students graduating in the class of 2009

 

 Demonic Deception [40:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mark 1:21-28 [+/-]Mark 1:21-28 [21]And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. [22]And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. [23]And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, [24]"What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God." [25]But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" [26]And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. [27]And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." [28]And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. (ESV)

John Stott in his most marvelous book The Cross of Christ argues that the death of Jesus on the cross is about three realities.  It is first about the salvation of sinners through the sacrifice and substitution of Jesus.  It is secondly about the nature and character of God as holy and gracious.  And third it is about the conquest of evil so that the devil and all his demons are forever defeated through the death of Jesus on the cross.  Stott, however, quotes Michael Green who has put in one sentence what so many of us see about the perceptions of the demonic from declared to be devoted followers of Jesus.  This is what Green says, The devil has succeeded in creating two opposing attitudes about the demonic and both are pleasing to him:  “the first is that of excessive preoccupation with the Prince of evil.  The second is that of excessive skepticism about his very existence.”  I call the first the mentality of finding a demon under every bush.  I call the second the exchange of the demonic for the model of disease.  In the first we assign every malady to the demonic and in the second we assign none.  Both are equally flawed and fatal and Green is right, “the devil delights in both.”  So, let’s begin our look at this text this morning by recognizing some basic realities about the world of demons declared very clearly and very consistently in Scripture.

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INTRODUCTION:  The reforms among the people of God have always been generational.  What happens in one generation is no guarantee for either good or evil to happen in the next generation.  This does not mean, however, that what we do in one generation determines what is going to happen in the next except insofar as it conforms to the sovereign plan and purpose of God.  Such is the history that leads us to the period of the Book of Daniel.

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 Sunday Evening - May 17, 2009 [36:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

John 3:1-14 [+/-]John 3:1-14 [3:1]Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [2]This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." [3]Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." [4]Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" [5]Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6]That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7]Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' [8]The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." [9]Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" [10]Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? [11]Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. [12]If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? [13]No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. [14]And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, (ESV)

Basic Biblical Beliefs -

I have addressed this issue before and I surely don’t want to beat a dead horse, BUT many well intentioned long time Southern Baptists whom I love want to make the late fifties and early sixties the golden era of the church.  To be sure it was during this time that we experienced some of our most rapid growth.  It was during this time that baptisms were higher than at any point in our recent history.  It was during this time that we had rapid Sunday School growth, active involment in Baptist Training Union, very alive WMU groups with all the age-graded groups under them; and we even had an active Brotherhood and age-graded choir programs in the church.  It was the golden era of the SBC.  But it is true that not all that glitters isn’t golden.

One of my real concerns as a pastor is the number of people in our churches that are my age that have no real biblical depth.  And worse, those in communities like my own who are my age who are no longer in church.  They were in Sunday School during the golden era and many of them were in Baptist Training Union and all the rest.  What happened to them?  Maybe the false theology and the biblical heresies that were prominent during this period actually had an impact on their lives and either left them in the church without a solid biblical foundation or took them away from the church.  What empty theologies and biblical heresies am I talking about?

Well, I addressed two of them in my Sunday morning sermon:  the carnal Christian or the belief empy of biblical content that a person can profess to know Jesus but live a fleshly, worldly life; and the equally horrendous teaching that we can be saved by Jesus without Him being the Lord of our lives.  But there is so much more.  It was duirng this period that we practiced a formula for increasing Sunday School attendance:  we enrolled people in Sunday School classes, many of whom never came; but we had learned that every Sunday School class averages 40-45% of its enrollment.  The more we enroll, the higher the attendance.  So, we enrolled people who did not come.  Next, we shifted the focus of conversion from commitment to Jesus as Lord to “joining the church.”  We taught children and young people that they needed to join the church and they did by the bunches.  But they did so without any knowledge of human sin or divine holiness or why it was that one even needed to join the church.  Churches grew.  Hundreds of children were baptized after “joining the church.”  It was worse than poor theology, it was biblical heresy.  But who cares as long as people are walking down the aisles and the church is growing.  Add to this messy mix our teaching on the priesthood of the believer which made every believer a priest not in the biblical sense of caring for one another but in the Baptist sense of each person having his own peculiar understanding of the Scripture  which has produced where we are now:  Joe Blow who is sure he is saved because of his profession of faith and his own understanding of the Bible because of what he believes about the priesthood of the believer.  The bottom line during this era was simple:  we changed the definition for being a believer from “commitment to the Lorship of Jesus” to joining the church and then we taught that every believer could interpret the Bible for himself so taht we got them “saved” by our methods and gave them the message that they did not need the teaching authority of the church in order to grow and sent them out into the world with an absolutely horrible and heretical messaage about what it means really both to be saved and to be sanctified.  And the result?

Well, Isee it and hear it everywhere:  People my age or let’s say from 45-60 who sincerely but wrongly think they are saved because they joined the church which church they do not need anymore since they were taught sincerely but wrongly that they are their own priests to make up their own mind about what they believe.  And most who think this way are not in the church any more because they have made up their own mind about what they believe and it is that they have been saved by joining the church but don’t have to be in church any more because what they believe is that they don’t have to be and that for them is the end of the argument.  Until Judgment Day.

 

 Only by the Spirit [39:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 [+/-]1 Corinthians 3:1-4 [3:1]But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. [2]I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, [3]for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? [4]For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human? (ESV)
; 12:1-3

One of the very real and very critical concerns of many concerned about the church in America is our loss of what it means to live under the Lordship of Jesus.  Those who write and speak about his concern are saying that we have either forgotten what the Lordship of Jesus means or we have so compromised its meaning that we use the words but have lost the sense of their biblical meaning.  But all who see this loss of the understanding of the Lordship of Jesus are certain that its origins can be discovered in two developments in the sixties and seventies in America that have hung on and are held onto by many professing believers.

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The most recent releases in relationship to the issue of gender will either make you laugh or cry.  Reports were released this week that reveal new and amazing discoveries that gender identity is determined by sociological and cultural factors and not by biological identity.  According to these reports the descriptors that we use of “male” and “female” are consigned by the culture or set by the society of which we are a part.  This means, for example, that I might for all the world look like a male and have the biological equipment for being male but, in fact, be a female.  Or the other way round.  Now I would laugh at this kind of thing except that people take it seriously.  The upshot of this kind of news is that we have come to the point that it is perceived that we really can be who we see ourselves to be rather than being what it appears that we are.  Some male can then conclude that he is that simply becaouse that is what is culture communicated to him but his culture does not know him.  He knows himself.  And in the knowledge of himself, he has concluded that he is she.

It is utter nonsense.  And it is worse.  It assumes that there is within us that which enables us to know ourselves.  The outcome of such thinking is not only that we have by nature all the equipment that is necessary to decide who we really are but also that we cannot really deceive ourselves.  How deceptive is that kind of thinking?  Here I sit at my computer dressed in the clothes that are male having all that would make me that but I convince myself that I am not male.  And at the same time I convince myself that I know myself and know that I am not male.  That is deep, deep deception.  When a human being who is obviously one thing can convince himself that he or she is something else entirerly, then that is the stuff of laughter and tears.

Yet, it happens every day when someone reads or hears the Bible about what it really means to be a beleiver and concludes that even though he does  not live that way he is still a believer.  On what premise?  On the premise of what he professes or believes about himself that is different than what the Bible says about him.  But it could be that the Bible simply respresents a cultural communication or a societal statement about what a Christian in and we had best put that in its place.  It is then that we can listen to our hearts and know for sure who we really are.  And that to me is far more deadly than me looking like a male but thinking I am a female.  This one would cause others to laugh at me; the former causes God to laugh at me; and cry over me as well.

I am still pondering whether I ought to do this post or not.  But after reading Albert Mohler’s blog this morning, I concluded that it would be ok.  I want to write about my own struggles with Mother’s Day both from a historical/biblical perspective and from a personal perspective.  I want to offer a few disclaimers before I do.  First, I got a card for Anne and called both my daughter and daughter-in-law early on Sunday morning.  I wanted them to know that I give gratitude to God for them as women, as wives and as mothers.  So, I am not a “Mother’s Day Scrooge.”  Second, I am most concerned about any kind of day that calls for the recgnition of humans that could, in fact; detract from the glory of God.  I have the same sense about “Pastor Appreciation Day” that I do about Mother’s Day.  It becomes a day of praise to humans rather than giving glory to God.  Third, not all women who give birth to children become either godly or good mothers and some who never give birth to children become both to children. That is where I must begin my pondering.

I do not know and do not really care to know the woman who birthed me.  All I know is that she was a teenager from downtown Augusta who gave me up for adoption rather than aborting me.  Do not think that that realilty was lost in me this weekend as I watched our women work with teenage girls who are pregnant.  It brought me such great joy to see what our women were doing with these women.  One of those girls fifty-six years ago could have been my mother.  My adoptive mother had a whole hosts of issues that she never got resolved either emotionally or spiritually which led to extremely bad behaviors for which I was the recipient in many cases, and for a long, long time.  Can you imagine the conflict that caused for me on Mother’s Day as a child when I was compelled to say and do nice things that were so hard for me to do and say, and being verbally and emotionally abused if the words that were said and the deeds that were done were not enough in her eyes.  It was hard.  That experience has made me through the years keenly sensitive to others who may well be in that situation on Mother’s Day.

But there is more.  This day that we celebrate on the second Sunday in May is not found in the Bible, nor is Father’s Day or Grandparents Day or Independence Day etc.  And these are all good days that all represent good things.  But they are not biblically mandated days of celebration.  The Bible, of course, honors women like Esther and Deborah, and Mary and Phoebe etc. but the honor given to them is due to their godly character in fulfilling godly purposes.  Mother’s Day like so many others that we celebate has existed for just over one hundred years and was established in the context of the protest of war and for celebration primarily in the home.  It was a time for the family at home to honor the mother.  But it caught on due to florists and card companies that saw it as a time to exploit the sentiments of men and children to get them to buy cards and flowers for wife and Mom.  What heathen doesn’t buy his wife or mother a card for Mother’s Day?  Even writing my concerns about the day and others like it makes me feel a little like a dirtbag.

If the church is to stand apart from the culture then she must be sensitive to where the culture influences her.  This may be one of those places.  There are churches that actually give the whole Mother’s Day Sunday over to the focus on Mothers.  They give gifts to Moms in different categories.  I was in a church like that once where we had a debate over whether the flowers ought to be given to the oldest Mom in the church who was active, the oldest Mom in the church period, or the oldest Mom in the church who was present.  The debate came due to the fact that the flowers each year were being won by the oldest Mom in the church and this Mom only came to church on Mother’s Day.  This Mom was just under a year older than another woman in the church who came to church every Sunday but she could not win the flowers because this woman older than her showed up with all her clan on Mother’s Day and she got the flowers.  I’ll never forget the day she died; the first call I got was from the woman she had beat out ever year who informed me that her goal now was to live through Mother’s Day because she knew that she would get the flowers that year.  She did.

This is my concern.  Not the lady winning the flowers, but the way the calendar of the culture can effect the calendar of the church.  And when that happens the church is captured by the culture no matter how we would want to aruge otherwise.  That is why here on some years we observe Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in the context of worship where the Word of God is preached to address family issues, and some years we observe the days through our prayers and our music but not through the message.  This is at least for me one way we can guard against the culture controlling and capturing the church.  And I do beleive that one way you can know how much the culture controls you is by measuring your “gut” response to the lack of attention in the church to Mother’s Day.

 

 The First Sermon [35:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Acts 2:14-36 [+/-]Acts 2:14-36 [14]But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. [15]For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. [16]But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: [17]"'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; [18]even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. [19]And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; [20]the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. [21]And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' [22]"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-- [23]this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. [24]God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. [25]For David says concerning him, "'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; [26]therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. [27]For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. [28]You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.' [29]"Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. [30]Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, [31]he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. [32]This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. [33]Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. [34]For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, [35]until I make your enemies your footstool.' [36]Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." (ESV)

We have just read the introduction, the Scripture text and the essence of the first sermon that was ever preached in the first church that ever existed in the days of the New Covenant.  The sermon was given by the apostle Peter in response to the confusion caused by what had happened at Pentecost.  Let us remember the events that led to this moment when Peter stood to preach.  Jesus had been with the eleven disciples for forty days after the resurrection.  He had taught them what they needed to know about His rule upon the earth by His Spirit and through His Church.  He had given them their assignment as a body of believers:  when the Holy Spirit came upon them they were to go forth into the world as witnesses to the Gospel.  Then He ascended to heaven as they watched; they gathered to worship and to wait and it was during this time that Jesus sent forth His Spirit in power among this gathered group of believers and they were giving praise to God in the languages of the world.  Languages that they did not know and those who were in Jerusalem for Pentecost who spoke these languages knew that those who were speaking did not know their language, but now they are hearing praise being given to God in their language by these people who do not know their language.  What is going on?

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here

Before I address the issue in the title for this post, I want you to know that I realize that blogs being read depends in part on the consistency of the blogger in blogging.  Well, the only consistency that I have enjoyed until now is my faithfulness to being remarkably inconsistent.  So, here is the deal.  I have made a commitment to blog twice a week either on Sunday Night or Monday and then again on Thursday or Friday.  Blogging every day is not possible for me right now.  I have far too many fires cooking in too many different places to add this little flame to the mix, so that is how I am going to be working for the near future.  I do  reserve the right, however, to jump in at other times if something is really burning in my soul.  Now to the topic.

I have been amused since early this morning at how conservative media (and that means in our culture FOX News and Christian Radi0) have handled the choice that the President has made to observe privately the National Day of Prayer.  Some conservative commentators are using words like “betrayal” and “denial” to describe his choice.  He is either Judas or Peter or both wrapped into one.  My amusement over this matter has to do with what constitutes in our country what we call “conservative Christianity” which in many cases is surely not conservative and is not Christianity at all. Let me explore.

We have created a kind of Christianity in our culture that is almost entirely cultural.  It is tied to the Republican Party which increasingly it seems is seen to be the party of the pious so much so that it is seen as almost impossible for one to be devoted to Jesus and be a Democrat.  Lest you misunderstand me, I do believe that the Republican Party Platform in its socially conservative agenda is far more Christian and Biblical than the platform of the Democrats but I don’t believe that Jesus would belong to either and surely would not equate adherance to a political party as a sign of being submitted to God.  And this cultural Christianity observes all the high and holy national holidays including now the National Day of Prayer.  And those who do not observe the way the conservative evangelical leadership has concluded that it must be observed at the very least have the character of their Christianity called into question.

The case in point for me came this morning and it is what amused me and angered me and prompted this post.  President Obama was compared to President Bush who kept alive the flame of the observance of the National Day of Prayer and “advanced it by the inclusion of the mutiple faith groups in its observance.”  What?  That is advancing the cause of prayer.  Have we so lost sight of what prayer is biblically that we consider it an advance to bring together Jews and Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists and Christians and let them all pray as if we are all under one great umbrella that we call “God” to whom we pray in different ways.  That is cutural to the core but it is neither conservative nor Christian.  The Christian understands that we have one way of access to God and only one and thus one way of approach to God and only one and that is through our Lord Jesus Christ.  And we understand that the prayer that God hears outside the prayer for Him to save us by His grace from His wrath is the prayer that is offered to Him by those who are living their lives under the Lordship of Jesus and thus can rightly pray “in Jesus’ Name.”  Notice that I did not say the word “Christian” in the previous sentence.  That word itself has no magic in prayer nor does any other word.  The prayer that God hears comes from the “pray–ers” that God seeks and that is those who have surrendered to God through Jesus and are seeking to obey His Word.

If you gave me a choice between attending a prayer event where people from different religious groups were praying and praying at home, I would stay at home.  That may not be at all why the President stayed at home for the observance of the National Day of Prayer but it is why I would.  I strongly believe that the cultural “Christianity” that we have concocted in our day is a far greater threat to “The Truth” of God than atheism ever thought about being.

 

 Jesus is Lord ? [43:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Romans 10:1-21 [+/-]Romans 10 [10:1]Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. [2]For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. [3]For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. [4]For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. [5]For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. [6]But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) [7]or "'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). [8]But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); [9]because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10]For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. [11]For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." [12]For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. [13]For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [14]How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? [15]And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" [16]But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" [17]So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. [18]But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." [19]But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, "I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry." [20]Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me." [21]But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people." (ESV)

The old preacher was on his way to the place of his death.  He was going to be burned at the stake.  Soldiers on each side were speaking to him as they were making this final trip.  They were begging him just to do it.  The account of this event is clear that nobody charged with the execution of this well known and much loved preacher wanted to kill him.  They say him as stubborn and belligerent.  They could not make sense of his stance.  All the way from the courtroom to the cremation scene they called on him to do it, just do it.  It is no big deal.  What they wanted him to do was simply to say two words, “Caesaros Kurios,” Caesar is Lord.  They wanted him to take just a few aromatic spices, present them as an offering and proclaim those two words.  It was the simple acknowledgement that the emperor of Rome ruled his empire and by virtue of the power of Rome thus ruled the world.  But the preacher and many others like him would not do it.  They had said two other words that so bound their conscience and conduct that they could not say, “Caesaros Kurios.”  They had already said, “Iesous Kurios,” Jesus is Lord.  So they brought the pastor of the church in Smyrna to the place of execution where he would be burned alive and they asked him one more time just to do it.  And the record is that he looked them directly in the eyes and said, “Eighty and Six years have I served my Lord and in no way has He failed me, how can I even now deny my King who saved me.  Let the fires be lit.”  And they were.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!