The LORD's Day, July 26, 2009

Jesus’ Unalterable Promise for the Church

Matthew 16.13-20
Jesus took His disciples way up north in Israel. They were in the region of Caesarea Philippi. He asked them who men were saying He was. Then He asked them the greatest question anyone could ever be asked and one everyone will have to give an answer to one day: Who do you say I am?

With the blessing on Peter came a statement by the Master about the church. It is a unique promise.

1. There is no condition to this promise.
Many promises have conditions and we have to meet those conditions to receive the benefits. For instance "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." I John 1.9 We must confess to receive the forgiveness God offers. It is an act of humility and contrition. But this promise of Jesus has no "if" attached. He is going to build His Church no matter what. I like that! As we will see in a moment that doesn’t mean that we sit around and do nothing, quite the contrary. The LORD works through people to build His Church.

This creates problems. If a church in the nation or a denomination loses its way and stops following its LORD we see strong words from Jesus in Revelation about the need for that church to repent. If it does not the LORD will build His church but He will do it with another group of people. That is precisely what has happened throughout the church’s history and what is happening today.

For a long time the church in the United States was the missionary sender and we still are sending missionaries Jon and Margaret Scott were sent) but at the same time missionaries are coming here and we need them!

The church must rely on the LORD. If it refuses He raises up a group that will- we see Him doing so in this very chapter!
No "if"

2. The power of the love Jesus has for the church is here.
The Pharisees asked for some miraculous sign. Can you imagine what Jesus could have done? He never used His power (still doesn’t) to entertain or please sinful requests. They were testing Him- much in the same way Satan had done in the beginning of this gospel when he tempted the Master.

They didn’t know the power of God. The power of God often shows up like it did with Jesus on the cross in the power of love and forgiveness. We see Him speaking of that at the end of this chapter.

Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her culminated on the cross.
How is love demonstrated? You lay down your life for the person you love. You sacrifice for those you love. Show me where you are spending extra time and putting forth extra effort and spending money and I will show you your love. It isn’t right to say you love the LORD if you are more passionate about other things and He gets leftovers.
The power of love is a wonderful and great power.

No other force is so great as love.
It is a sustaining force.

Love can keep a person going long after their natural strength is gone. I have watched this in hospitals when someone is sick and their loved ones are with them.

It is a conquering force.

We have seen how it can overcome bitterness and hatred and unforgiveness.

It is an immutable force.
Love doesn’t change. Shakespere said, "It does not alter when it alterations doth find."

3. Jesus is the builder
If man starts doing the building of the church apart from the LORD it is wood, hay and straw.

I Corinthians 3.11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.

What happens when fire hits wood, hay or straw? It is consumed. What happens when it hits gold, silver or diamonds? It is purified and made better.

God’s Work is to be done in God’s Way. It is actually He Who does the work Jesus is the only One Who can say "I will build My Church," for a number of reasons.

Ephesians 2.10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Jesus takes these works and builds His Church through these good works. I’m reading Ruth Graham’s father’s biography right now. Nelson Bell was a wonderful surgeon who served as a missionary doctor in China.

Ruth grew up there as her dad worked in a hospital. As I a reading the book it is very evident that like those before him such as Hudson Taylor, also a medical doctor, his primary work was that of sharing the good news. I also get the sense that this was all prepared by the LORD, which it was.

4. The church is built with the souls that confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Peter made the great confession. He was the first to confess Who Jesus was. Jesus tells us it was God the Father Who actually revealed it to Peter.

God the Father through His Spirit calls people to believe on Jesus. The church is being built as people respond and believe. The body of Christ is built up.
It is also built up spiritually as its members grow and become strong in the Savior’s love and in His Word.
Ephesians 4.11-16

5. The Gates of Hell will not prevail against the church.

Grk Word for gates is pulay. It is the entrance place of the city. It was also the place where the elders of city would come to meet and make plans for the city.
We see it in:
Proverbs 31. 23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

prevail= to be strong to another’s detriment
to be superior in strength

The Gates of Hell will not prevail against the church because Jesus said so!
Jesus said so because He is the Master of Love and He knows the power of love. People keep serving Him, even more when it is difficult to!

Jesus said so because He is he builder and He knows everything.

Jesus said so because He is LORD of everything. All authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth.

I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!

"Onward Christian Soldiers"

God’s Eternal Word

Psalm 119.89-96
There are so many words spoken today. The outlets for media are incredible. I remember the first time I heard the word "Blog". In fact as I typed it into my Word processor just now on my computer it showed up as a misspelled word! My computer is only 5 years old. 5 years ago there was no such thing as a blog. Now all around the world people are writing in them and all around the world people are reading them. We have one for the church and the message each week is posted in it and so people can read what you are hearing this morning. But there are many that are nonsense and some even against God’s Word. Words abound today but few are worth hearing. Only God’s Word is eternal.
Look at this 89th verse: "Your Word, O LORD is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens."
The Bible, the Word of God, is eternal. This is being challenged today. The Word of God is being questioned by many. But the truth is: "Your Word, O LORD is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens."
It is important that we have a clear understanding of what we believe about it because it has a direct effect on our lives here on earth and forever.
I’m so thankful that at an early age, a very young age I came to believe that God’s Word is eternal. In fact there is not a time in my earliest memory where it did not play a dominate role in my life. My journey has provided me with opportunities to show its reality.

1. The Word of God Tells Us How the Heavens and the Earth Were Created.
v. 90
Genesis 1-2
II Peter 3.5 "... long ago by God’s Word the heavens existed and the earth was formed..."
Psalm 33.6 By the Word of the LORD were the heavens made
vs. 8-9 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke and it came to be..."
God spoke and there was creation! He did it in 6 days! We are given an orderly and careful account of that week in Genesis. Throughout the Bible it is confirmed that God spoke every thing into being. He is the Grand Designer. He is the Sustainer. He is the Creator.


2. The Word of God Tells Us How Sin Entered Into the Human Race.
Genesis 3
It came through Adam’s sin.
It also tells of a promise of a Redeemer. Genesis 3.15
It tells us what is wrong with this world.
From the point sin entered the world the Old Testament point to Jesus Christ to redeem the world from sin, to save souls from death. We are told in John in his gospel that He was there in the beginning at creation. We are told that He is the Lamb of God that was slain from the creation of the world. (Revelation 13.8)

In this world of evil...

3. The Word of God Tell Us How To Live vs. 91,93
Through the Ten Commandments then on through the Proverbs and Prophets, we are given everything we need. The New Testament reveals Jesus Christ fully and we are told of His Great Sacrifice for our sins. The letters speak more of godly and holy lives we are called to.
God’s Word calls us to be like Jesus.

It tells us the Truth about God. There is a great deal of talk about "God" today but there is not a lot of it that is rooted in scripture, God’s Word.

I think of the confusion that is being caused in children today because man has sought to redefine what a family is. God established the family very clearly, but because of rebellion against God, man has tried to come up with alternatives.

There is confusion around situational ethics which say there are no absolutes. Each situation calls for its own consideration of what is right. But there are absolutes. God wrote the ten commandments not on sand but on stone, showing their permanence. Societies which base their laws on the Ten Commandments have more stability than those who do not- much more. They are foundational.

The commandments point out the need for forgiveness and redemption. We have sinned. We all need a Savior. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners!
After we are saved the theme of our walk with the LORD is Psalm 119.105 Your Word is a lamp for me feet and a light for my path.


4. The Word of God Tells us How To Face Life’s Greatest Problems. v.92
Life brings unexpected, sometimes crushing experiences.
God, through His Word, tells us of His promises for us for specific times
Listen to these promises:
Psalm 54.4 Surely God is my help; the LORD is the One Who sustains me.
Psalm 25.3 No one whose hope in You will ever be put to shame.
Psalm 138.7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.
Psalm 147.3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 46.1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in time of trouble.
Philippians 4.19 And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 26.3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.
And the LORD is faithful to all of them!

5. The Word of God Tells Us of Heaven.
A new heaven and a new earth
God’s Word- It will never pass away!
God’s Word is eternal. It stand firm in the heavens. Heaven and earth will pass away my words, Jesus said, will never pass away.

The grass withers and the flowers fall but the Word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40.8
I John 2.17 The world and its desires pass away,

but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

The LORD's Day, July 12, 2009

Jesus Helps Us In Overwhelming Situations
In Times of Great Need

Matthew 14.13-21

This is the only miracle except for the Resurrection of Jesus that appears in all four of the gospels. It is full of rich truths as well as drama and a presentation of Jesus Christ as Israel’s Messiah and the Savior of the world.

The problem was that it was getting late and the people had been listening to Jesus and were hungry and there was nothing there among the thousands except a boy’s lunch.

Light had come to the people of Galilee. They had been both crushed in their history by invading armies and had been looked down upon by those in Judea. Jesus came to this area and although he was born in Bethlehem and of David’s line He grew up in Nazareth and became known as a Nazarene and also a Galilean. (Matthew 2.23 , Luke 22.59) Both Nazarenes and Galileans were looked down upon.

Jesus was working among the people of Galilee just as Isaiah the prophet had foretold. (Isaiah 9.1-2)

Miracles came many times because of people’s misfortunes and this one was no different. There were children along. (v.21) We know what it is like for children when they get hungry. Oh boy! My oldest grandson has a very active metabolism. One time when my nephews were here some years ago. It was the afternoon and one of them asked, "Uncle Larry, are we going to have like, lunch?" Kids need to eat. They can’t skip meals.

1. He comforts us v.16a
We look at a problem we are having and He speaks of it as an opportunity for Him to show His power.

We usually come at problems from a wrong perspective. We come at them by leaning on our own understanding. That is a sure way to end up in despair. We need to be reminded that God is in control!

The disciples were all stressed out. There is no need to be if Jesus is with us. They were thinking logically, but sometimes God doesn’t work the way we are thinking!

Jesus reminded them of this by saying, "They do not need to go away." Sometimes His comfort can be alarming! We lean on our understanding and He wakes us up!

I think we should listen more carefully to the LORD along these lines.
We look at the predicament and then conclude, "Here is what we need to do." Jesus is saying many times, "No, you do not need to." They do not need to go away... Wait for the LORD.

2. He challenges us. v.16b
He involves us in the solving the problem so we can share in the miracle.
God calls us to get involved with problems!

Often we begin to look to our own resources and solutions and they always end in despair and frustration. (John 6.5-9)

We begin to try and figure it out and there is no figuring!
We begin to inventory our resources and find there is no way with what we have that we could even make a dent in a need in our life.

Now Jesus gave them an overwhelming command - "you give them something to eat". He doesn’t give us these kind of commands and then leave us to ourselves.

3. He calls us to share with Him in His work. v.17-19

Jesus tells us to bring what we have to Him. It is amazing how a little bit of money can go and feed hungry children today. Our church has a hot lunch program in Haiti. For very little each week you can give so a child in Haiti can have at least one hot meal a day. Jesus’ words are for us: "You give them something to eat."

We are called to share in giving our income to the work of the LORD. God has set it up in His Word for a portion to be set aside each week according to how He has blessed us. He will bless you if you obey Him. There is no pressure here to give. There is simply a box in the back for you to do so... but the greatest transactions you’ll make in your life take place in that little box and others like it around the world.

You give them something to eat has spiritual application as well. Invite people to come with you to church. Share on Facebook what God has spoken to you about through His Word each day. Send notes. Look for opportunities- they abound- to share the good news... the Bread of Life... the Bread that has come down from heaven and gives life to the world.

4. He does miracles. vs. 20-21

Most of the time He does miracles as we work. Many times He has working then He works.

Look to heaven with what you have in your hands. Aaron’s rod. What has God gifted your hands with? Cooking, art work, fixing things, writing... patting a person on the back.

What an example Jesus set for us! He gave thanks! He thanked the Father for what He had... what was in His Hands. Are you following Him in this way?
We know (as we shared last week) that every good and perfect gift comes down from the our Father in Heaven. Why do we look else where? Why do we worry so?
Don’t miss the obvious lesson here. We see Jesus with a boy’s lunch. In front of Him are 5,000 men besides all the women and children! At His side are the Twelve. He is standing there with all these people who are hungry and He is giving thanks for a little boy’s lunch! In the words of Andrew, "How far will they go among so many?" Jesus is giving thanks for the little He had. Holding the lunch in His Hands He looked up to heaven.

5. His works are wonderful!

This went from the disciples being concerned about the people’s need of food to their hands being full with the leftovers! All this took place in a short time. Evening approached (v.15) Evening came (v.23)

Does God always work that fast? No! Look at the next miracle: They were out on that boat at least nine perhaps up to 11 ½ hours! They were struggling. Jesus waited almost all night. Maybe you are going through a night season (as we sang about this morning) right now. Wait for the LORD! He will come to you! Obey Him and wait for Him. His works are filled with wonder.

This miracle took place in a matter of moments. They went from having thousands of hungry people without any food to everyone being glutted and having a basketful leftover for each of the disciples to carry!

The people were stuffed on a boy’s lunch! Jesus works wonders.

He delights in working through small insignificant people and groups of people. He used a kid and His lunch and some fishermen to feed a multitude of people. We tend to look at the large groups of people and think that they are the ones God uses but in reality He has worked through families and rather small numbers.
God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. Little is much when God is in it. Only a boy named David, only a little sling! O Little Town of Bethlehem... the hymn writers have picked up on this...

Let’s look to Him today!

The LORD's Day, July 5, 2009

One Day

Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43

This parable speaks of the Day when evil and sin and everything that causes sin will be done way with. What a day that will be It is difficult for us to take this in completely. We wait with expectation and faith.

We see the wickedness of the enemy in this parable. There is nothing good in destroying a wheat crop. It is an act of hatred and a sick mind. Computers today have viruses. Created by people with a great deal of intelligence, these viruses can destroy valuable information and pictures that mean so much. My nephew asked me, “What kind of a person would do that?” I said ,“Be glad you don’t know.” Destruction of good is a work of the enemy. So often this effects many people in the destruction of just one life. Few consider this when making decisions that are wrong.

Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. He sows bad seed in the church, among God’s Harvest. Don’t go trying to root it out or even to join or create a perfect church. That will be created by God in heaven.

Satan sows seeds of weeds in families and in other wholesome things. Places we revere have been desecrated by his activity. With even innocent things being infected by him these days we need to look to the LORD more than ever before. We need strength from Him and faith that even in wicked times, times of great evil He is able to keep us and protect us from the evil one. Jesus prayed for this in John 17.

We also need to have more of the hope of heaven in our hearts these days We need to be thinking of the day when Jesus will come again.

Jesus is giving us a true picture of what we face in this present world: Along with a lot of good... evil and everything that causes sin


1. We are to look forward to that day II Peter 3.11-12

Plans are made and things are laid out inside of the hearts of people, but little is taken into account that Jesus could come any time. We are to live life but we are to keep that thought in our hearts. It has a purifying effect but it also encourages hope It is in fact our blessed hope (Titus 2.12-13)

This hope even comes through in death- in fact it shines through in death I saw a memorial service on line this week for the General Superintendents who went to be with the LORD. They sang this hymn “One Day”. The song, like all Christian hymns, is full of hope for that One Day!

I know that My Redeemer Lives Job and that after my skin has been destroyed yet in my flesh I shall see God. (Job 19.25-26)

2. We are to long for that day II Timothy 4.7-8

When we speak of the LORD’s return we ought to speak of it with a special fondness. It means the end to sin and wickedness and everything that causes sin. There ought to be a longing for heaven in our hearts. It should grow stronger as we walk with the LORD over the years. If you read II Timothy 4 you see it and feel it in Paul’s letter to Timothy, which could very well have been Paul’s last letter, perhaps even written on the eve of his death

We look forward to certain things in our lives: Paying off the car, paying off the mortgage, a vacation... but the one thing that should have an overwhelming longing down deep in our hearts as believers is Jesus’ return As we follow the LORD we should be looking forward to going to be with Him.

We can get tolerant of sin if we are not careful. We should hate sin. We should hate what it does to people. With this hatred of sin there should not be hopelessness but rather a strong hope and faith that when Jesus come He is going to put an end to sin, He is going to destroy it. He is going to cast Satan and his followers into the lake of fire.


3. We are to love that day II Timothy 4.7-8 (KJV)
Agapao= to welcome, to be fond of, to dearly love, to be well pleased, to be content

No believer should ever speak with disdain about the LORD’s coming. I am appalled as you are with people who have made predictions. They have been 100% wrong. Going against God’s Word they have brought to people’s minds negative feelings when we speak of the nearness of the return of Jesus.

Stay with God’s Word and the influence of these who go against it on this point will diminish.

You notice Jesus’ words we looked at this week in this passage in verse 17. They are similar to the words Peter wrote in his epistle. I Peter 1.12 They are very close to the idea expressed in I Peter 1.10-11

Jesus told us plainly that we could not know, but the inquisitive part of man doesn’t give up easily, even followers of Jesus Christ. We want to know what we did when a person is healed. How did we pray? What is the secret? We desire to understand. It is an affront to our intellect to accept what God says in Isaiah 55 about His thoughts being beyond our finding out But accept we must

When it comes to the return of Jesus that day and hour are not known to us We aren’t to know that but we are to love that day Funny thing about love- it doesn’t need to know everything. In fact it can know very little. When my kids were away at college I knew as little about their activities before or since. That didn’t change my love for them. In fact it enhanced it No one knows about that day but we can love His Appearing

4. We are to be ready for that day II Peter 3.11-14, Luke 12.35-36

Ready means: Watching, living right,
As the time draws near for the Return of Jesus Christ it will become more and more difficult to live right. Satan knows his time is short. As a wounded beast he is dangerous. He seeks to sift out people who are following Jesus. If it were possible even the very elect would be deceived. Pressure beyond description.

There is a great battle going on today. It is over souls. We shared last week about the worth of a soul. The enemy wants to take out anyone he can. He wants souls- your soul, my soul. But Jesus is praying for us. Jesus has all power. The LORD is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless to the Father on that Day.

Our responsibility is to be on our guard, to watch, to be alert.

Let me speak from my heart to your heart this morning about one of the hidden truths/ or over looked truths in this parable. The enemy sows weeds among the wheat. The good seed is wheat. The bad seed is weed. In our English language they even sound alike. Let me bring this over out of the parabolic terms into life’s experiences. These two wheat and weeds look alike- so much that they are not distinguishable at times until the harvest. They grow close together. There are people who look like they are believers and are not. There also are people that as we converse with them we have serious doubts that they are believers because of their lives. Jesus let Judas alone. He was a thief. Thieves often hang themselves. That’s just it. Don’t get separating the wheat from the weeds. The LORD of the harvest will see it is done in that Day.

Don’t let the fact that there are people who are evil and claim to be followers of Jesus get you weighted down. We can’t help to be bothered by it but we do not have to let it weigh us down and bring us into despair. It is easier said than done. It is done by keeping our eyes on Jesus. I speak of my own experience. I remember 2 people who had a great influence on me as a young man falling into deep sin. One was a pastor and the other an evangelist. I was shocked but I did not let it destroy my faith. I remember it sobering me. The LORD let me see first hand the consequences of sin. That sensitivity remained with me over the years. But God’s wonderful grace and love has overshadowed all the pain and confusion. Let Him do that for you. Don’t dwell in the confusion, rest in Him One Day the weeds will be separated.

Sin and evil will be done away with. We will shine with Him fully forever.


One Day... perhaps today