The Light of Joy: In the Darkness of Fear – Luke 2:8-20

• December 20, 2020
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Luke 2:8-20

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Luke 2.  We read the first 7 verses last week when we considered Bethlehem’s Light of salvation in the darkness of oppression.  This week we’re going to be reading the next 13 verses – some of the most familiar and happy words of Christmas – as we consider Bethlehem’s Light of joy in the midst of fear.  So follow along with me as I read:

 

⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!”

 ¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”  ¹⁶ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

 

I want to begin this morning by just breaking down verse 11 for us.  It was a real day.  “For unto you is born this day…”.  It happened on a day.  A day in history.  Not a day in some mythological, imaginary story, but a day when “Caesar Augustus was the emperor of Rome and Quirinius was governor of Syria” (vss. 1-2).

 

It was a day planned in eternity before the creation of the world.  Indeed, the whole universe – with untold light-years of space and billions of galaxies – was created and made glorious for this day and what it means for human history.  The Apostle Paul would write these words concerning this day, “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:16).

 

It happened on a day.  The perfect day.  In the fullness of time.  The perfect time appointed by God before the foundation of the world.

 

But it was also a real city, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David…”  It happened in a city.  Not in Narnia.  Not in Middle Earth.  Not in a galaxy far far away.  It happened in a city about 6,000 miles from Greenville.  The city still exists today.  It’s a real city named Bethlehem.

 

Verses 4 and 15 both confirm that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, approximately six miles from Jerusalem.  Bethlehem, the city where Jesse lived, the father of David – the great king of Israel.  Bethlehem, the city that Micah prophesied over saying, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for Me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2).

 

It happened on a real day, and it happened in a real city.  A real city, just like Greenville, Greer or Landrum.

 

And the child that was born there was Savior, Messiah, and Lord.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior…”  A Savior.  If you’ve ever sinned against God you need a Savior.  In Matthew’s gospel, the angel said to Joseph, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

 

Only God can forgive sins against God.  That’s why God sent the eternal Son of God into the world, because Jesus is God.  That’s why Jesus said, “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6).  So, a Savior was born.

 

But He’s more than just the Savior.  He’s also Christ.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ…”  Christ is the English for Christos, which means “anointed one,” which is the meaning of “Messiah” (John 1:41; 4:25).  This is the long-predicted, long-awaited, anointed one above all others (Psalm 45:7).  The final anointed King.  The final anointed Prophet.  The final anointed Priest.

 

In Him all the promises of God are yes! (2 Corinthians 1:20).  He would fulfill all the hopes and dreams of godly Israel.  And more, vastly more.  Because He is also “the Lord.”  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

 

He’s the Lord, the ruler, the sovereign, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Lord of the universe.  The prophet Isaiah would put it like this, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).  So, He’s Savior, Christ and Lord.

 

Finally, notice that one angel can bring the news, but it’s not sufficient for one angel to respond to the news, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host [army!] praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” (Luke 2:13–14).  So, I exult with you today that we have a great Savior, one who is Christ and Lord, one who was born on a real day in a real city to save us from our real sins.  Bethlehem’s Light is the light of joy (amen?).

 

On these Sundays, we’ve been thinking together about the theme: Bethlehem’s Light.  Today, I want us to focus our attention on the fact that the light of joy shines even in the darkness of fear.  As Phillips Brooks’ great hymn, O Little Town of Bethlehem tells us, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

 

This is why Christmas is always such good news for us.  It has this great message for us, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”  Because this one child was born, we can face all our fears.  We all have fears, in one form or another, at one time or another, in one way or another.  Even in the darkness of fear, the light of joy still shines.

 

LET THE LIGHT OF JOY BE A SURPRISE

 

Luke tells us there were shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks.  Luke writes, “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.”

 

Just outside Bethlehem, about 1.5 miles away is the Shepherd’s Field.  It’s a vast pasture area still today, where the winter rains cause grass to grow.  Shepherds still take their sheep there to feed.  You can stand down there in those fields and see Bethlehem out in the distance.  And in that place, the shepherds were surprised as “the glory of the Lord shone around them.”

 

Reminds me of the preacher that went to see one of the families in his church.  He was met at the door by a six-year-old boy who said, “Preacher, am I glad to see you.  I have some good news.  Daddy and I are taking mama to the hospital to get a baby.  But don’t tell her about it.  We want it to be a surprise.”

 

Sometimes, the things we plan with the greatest detail turn out to be a surprise.  I suppose our problem is we think we have to plan it all; even life’s surprises.  Maybe what we should do instead is stand back, catch our breath for a moment and let the glory of the Lord shine on us.

 

Maybe we could dare to do that – open our lives up to a surprise by God and let God shine His light of joy on us, especially in those times when, like the shepherds, we’re afraid.  That’s when we need to be surprised most of all.  In the darkness of fear, let the light of joy shine on you.

 

LET THE LIGHT OF JOY GIVE YOU COURAGE

 

This was the message that the angel gave the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

 

Did you get that?  Don’t be afraid.  Why?  Because good news of great joy has come to all people.  It doesn’t read, “Be not afraid… instead, be courageous, be brave, be strong.”  None of these human qualities are the antidote of fear.  The antidote of fear, the cure of fear, is joy.  The joy of Christmas will keep you from being afraid.

 

Armed with Bethlehem’s Light – the light of joy shining around us – we can stand against anything and everything which would threaten us.

 

Bethany Hamilton is probably best known as the surfer that survived a shark attack leaving her without her left arm.  She ultimately returned to professional surfing and wrote about her experience in the 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board.  In that book she says, “Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid.  Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.”

 

In December 1944, in the Ardennes forest outside a little Belgian town known as Bastonge, the German army surrounded the 101^st Airborne.  On December 22, the American troops were sent an ultimatum from the German forces outside of the town, demanding “the honorable surrender” of the town within two hours.  Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe sent a brief and succinct reply: a one-word message, “Nuts!”  It was one of the greatest responses of military history.

 

That’s the message of Christmas for every Herod and every heartache and every hatred and every hardship and everything that seeks to destroy you – “Nuts!”  Or, as the angel put it, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

 

In the darkness of fear, let the light of joy give you courage.

 

LET THE LIGHT OF JOY ENABLE YOU TO ACCEPT THE GIFT

 

We’re back to where we started.  The angel told the shepherds, “To you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  The Savior is for you.

 

One of the great hymns of this season is by Isaac Watts – Joy To the World.  In that song we sing these words, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!  Let earth receive her King.”  Would we let that sink in for a moment?  Just let the words of that familiar tune settle over your heart and mind: joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King.

 

Jesus is the light of the world.  He’s the light of joy.  This is your best gift at Christmas.  He has come to save you, to redeem you, to pardon you, to restore you to a right and holy relationship with God the Father.

 

This is why in the darkness of fear the light of joy still shines on us.  It’s a joy which casts out all fear – even the fear of our own death.  Would you accept this gift this Christmas?

 

Sometimes, it is easy for us to give a gift, but not as easy to accept one.  We’re gracious givers, but sometimes we’re not gracious receivers.  A gift comes to us out of the love of the other person, and not because we deserve it or earn it.  That’s why it’s a gift.

 

Christmas is a gift.  The light of joy is a gift.  Our Savior, Christ the Lord, is a gift.  And because of this gift, we can stand against, above, and even in the midst of, the darkness of fear.  But we have to receive Him.

 

Would you accept the gift of Christmas joy, the gift of Christ the Lord, the gift of a Savior?  If you would, you would then be able to face all that life brings your way.  In the darkness of fear, Bethlehem’s Light still shines.

The Light of Salvation: In the Darkness of Oppression – Luke 2:1-7

• December 13, 2020
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Luke 2:1-7

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Luke 2.  On these Sundays of Advent, leading up to Christmas, we’re considering the light of Bethlehem.  Of course, Bethlehem’s Light is a reference to none other than Jesus.  And the idea behind this series is to remind us that the Light of Bethlehem still shines on us today.

 

All that Jesus came to offer: love and forgiveness, grace and mercy, joy and peace, yeah, even a way to be made eternally right with God.  Salvation is still available to us today in the light of Bethlehem.  So, this morning I want us to think about the light of salvation amidst the darkness of oppression.  Follow along with me as I read these oh-so-familiar words from the true Christmas story:

 

¹ In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  ² This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  ³ And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  ⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

 

Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem for one reason.  It’s mentioned four times in these seven verses (vss. 1, 2, 3, and 5).  The sole reason – besides fulfilling prophecy and ultimately God’s plan of redemption – was “to be registered.”  In case you didn’t know; that’s short-hand for “keeping track of everybody.”  It’s slang for “making sure we get all the money that’s due to the state.”  It’s akin to “signing up for military service.”  The Greek term is apographesthai.  It’s a compound word made up of a prefix (apo – meaning “away from”) and the root verb (grapho – meaning “to write”).  In this case it’s specifically referring to entering into the public records the names of men, their property and income, and to enroll them for possible military service.

 

The bottom line was this – everyone was living under the oppression of Rome.  It had been that way for centuries.  First, the surrounding enemies had conquered Israel, then Judah, then came the deportation to Babylon.  That was followed by a time of freedom under the Persians.  Soon the Greeks came, and then the Romans.  The Israelites were oppressed.  They needed a Savior and they knew it.  The irony is, the Savior came, and yet many didn’t even know it.

 

The salvation that Jesus brought would be greater than any political freedom.  It would be broader than the borders of any kingdom or empire.  The light that Jesus brought into the world – the light of salvation; folks, it still shines.  It shines into the darkness of any, and every, kind of oppression.

 

Are you oppressed today?  Oh sure, we don’t think of ourselves as oppressed.  After all, that’s what we call defeated and persecuted people – not people that live in the “land of the free and the home of the brave.”  Or are we?  Oppression comes in many forms, you know.

 

How many of you (if you were honest with yourselves) are oppressed by fear?  You’re just scared.  Scared about tomorrow.  Scared about what could happen, what might happen, what will happen.  Scared to live but also scared to die.

 

Or perhaps fear isn’t you’re thing.  How many of you are oppressed by sorrow?  Sure, we think of Christmas as a fun and festive season, but there are countless people out there for whom this season is nothing but tears and sadness.

 

Maybe your flavor of oppression is failure?  How many of you are still haunted by the fact that you just couldn’t cut it?  You flunked out of school and that cloud still hangs over your head?  Your business endeavor has taken a hit with this economy and the thought of bankruptcy and losing your retirement is crippling?  You weren’t the parent you wished you’d be and the only thing you see in the mirror is failure?

 

Or maybe, just maybe, your oppression is physical suffering that just won’t quit.  You have doctor appointments every day and twice on Monday.  Radiation and chemo seem like they’re never going to end.  Aches and pains aren’t an inconvenience anymore; they’re your constant companions.  You finally came to grips with one diagnosis only to receive another.  You recovered from one surgery only to be told you needed another.

 

Oppression was real for Joseph and Mary.  It was real for the Israelite nation.  And it’s real for you and in our world too.  But Christmas brings to all of us the good news of the Savior’s birth.  There’s a way out of the darkness of oppression, because the light of salvation still shines.

 

Let me suggest three things that enable us to receive the Savior and stand in the light of salvation this Advent and Christmas season:

 

Look For Jesus Expectantly

 

That’s something basic.  Yet, if we don’t do this, we won’t find Him.  We won’t see Him.  We won’t know of His coming to us if we aren’t looking for Him expectantly.

 

Think about the birth of a baby.  Most parents look forward to the birth of a baby.  That’s why we use the term “expecting.”  But that says nothing about the reality of the situation.  The reality is that a baby is on its way into the world.

 

Mary was pregnant, and she and Joseph were expecting that little fellow to arrive immediately.  They went to Bethlehem knowing He could be born at any time.  There’s no doubt that ride on the donkey encouraged Him to arrive even sooner…  All of the people involved in the first Christmas had this same sense of expectancy.  Not only these parents, but the shepherds and the wise men.  They all came to Bethlehem expecting to find Jesus.

 

That’s what we need, this sense of expectancy.  So many of us have such a low sense of expectancy.  We have no expectations.  We feel like we’ve already seen it all and done it all.  Been there, done that, have the t-shirt.  Isn’t that what we say?  In many cases we live like that day-to-day.  We spend our lives aiming at nothing and hitting nothing.  We’re not looking for anything, not expecting anything.

 

We have to work on our sense of expectancy.  One of my favorite hobbies is fishing.  Many of you have seen me hauling my kayak around in my pickup truck.  I also have access to my father-in-law’s 17’ bass boat and little John boat, but the reason for the kayak is because there are so many smaller bodies of water, little farm ponds, little backwaters that can only be accessed by a personal watercraft like a kayak.

 

Unlike the professional kayak anglers out there, I don’t have my kayak rigged with a fish finder (yet).  So, when I go fishing in my kayak a large part of my fishing experience – whether it’s going to be a good day or bad day – is based on my expectancy.  Am I going with this state of mind that is looking forward to hook “the big one,” even though I’m not outfitted with all the gear that would lead me to it.

 

It can be hotter than blazes or the wind can be pushing me all over the place, but as long as I have that expectation that the “next cast” could be the one, then I’m okay.  When that expectation begins to wane, then it’s over.  I know it’s time to head for the house.

 

In all areas of our lives, we have to expect something to happen.  This is especially true of Christmas and what it can mean to us.  We’ll only get out of it what we’re expecting.

 

There’s a great little book by author, Joseph Girzone, called Joshua: A Parable for Today.  It’s the story of Jesus as told through a modern lens.  At one point, Joshua explained to a man how we see what we are looking at differently.  Joshua earned his living working with wood.  He told the man we look at life with different vision.  We see what we want to see.  Three men may look at the same tree.  One sees valuable lumber to build a house.  Another sees firewood to keep warm.  And the third sees a work of art waiting to be carved.

 

That’s the way Christmas is.  We must cultivate within ourselves the sense of expectancy about the Savior being born anew in us.

 

Prepare For Jesus Thoroughly

 

First, look for Jesus expectantly.  Second, prepare for Jesus thoroughly.  We’ll miss Him if we don’t do this.  Again, think of the birth of a real baby.  We have to make the certain and necessary preparations for a baby.  So, too, with Christmas.

 

Mary and Joseph made the best preparations they could.  They were traveling all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem – a trip of about 80 miles (walking and riding a donkey).  And sometimes you just have to do the best you can with what you have and where you are.  Mary and Joseph did that.

 

Maybe the question we face isn’t, “How would you like to experience Christmas?” but “How would you like to completely miss Christmas?”  How would you like to not be affected by Christmas at all this year?  That’s a danger many of us face.

 

It doesn’t matter whether you were born in the 30’s, the 60’s, the 90’s or even have small kids today, there’s a game we all played and enjoyed called Hide and Seek.  That simple game where somebody closes their eyes and counts, while the other players hide.  The counter signals that they’ve finished counting and they’re getting ready to seek by saying (what), “Ready or not, here I come.”

 

That’s the way it is with Christmas and the birth of Jesus.  Ready or not, Christmas comes.  Have you made proper preparations?  Have you opened your heart and your mind to this great truth about Christ being born:

 

God’s only Son coming into the world…

Becoming God with us…

Getting down to our eye level…

Taking upon Himself the human experience…

Identifying Himself with us and all we suffer through

Enduring all our sins, sorrows, hurts, and shame, even death…

And then winning a victory over all of this for us because He is the

Savior.  Have you prepared to receive Jesus?  Are you preparing now?

 

There’s an old story about a slave woman who had a great Christian faith.  She couldn’t read, but the children she cared for had taught her to recognize the name of Jesus.  She knew it when she saw it.  Every evening she would sit down with the Bible and run her fingers up and down the pages searching for the name of Jesus.

 

In that same spirit, let us be preparing ourselves thoroughly for His coming.

 

Welcome Jesus Graciously

 

Look for Jesus expectantly.  Prepare for Jesus thoroughly.  And welcome Jesus graciously.  We’ll never know that Jesus has come if we don’t do this.  Again, just think of the real-life birth of a baby.

 

One of life’s most memorable moments is in the delivery room.  When a baby is born those parents open their arms and welcome that little one into their family.  Mary and Joseph opened their lives to this baby.  They received Him as a precious gift.

 

Now, we know that everyone didn’t receive Jesus that way.  Most folks in Bethlehem never even knew what had happened.  Of course, Matthew’s gospel tells us that king Herod tried to kill baby Jesus by having all the boys under 2 years of age murdered.  But most people just missed it entirely.  We, on the other hand, need to receive Him in a gracious way.

 

A number of years ago, on Christmas Eve, the Atlanta airport was iced in.  Anxious passengers were hoping to catch their flights home.  For a while, all flights were cancelled.  But, things began to open up.  Passengers listened for their flights and rushed to board them.  A couple of people spotted a man in a fine business suit who seemed unconcerned: going about his work, reading reports, his first-class seat, probably, confirmed.  They thought he was another Ebenezer Scrooge.

 

Then a young soldier appeared with a low-priority ticket, hoping to get a seat on the flight to New Orleans.  He was told there was little hope.  He was almost frantic.  He was going to Afghanistan in less than a month and he said this might be his last Christmas at home.

 

The agent was sorry, but there was nothing she could do.  When the boarding began, the seats were called out and the plane began filling up.  The businessman walked up to the agent and said, “I have a confirmed ticket.  I’d like to give my seat to this young man.”  Tears ran down the soldier’s face as the man told him, “Good luck.  Have a fine Christmas.  Good luck.”  

 

What if, this Christmas, you and I could open up a place for the Savior?  What kind of glow might burn in us if we could open our lives to the light of Bethlehem?  Won’t you give Him a place?  He has a confirmed ticket waiting just for you.  That’s the reason He came in the first place – to buy your pardon, to suffer God’s punishment for your sin.  The price has been paid in full.  Would you receive His free gift of grace for you this day?

Hanging of the Greens

• December 7, 2020
• Pastor
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The Light of Life: In the Darkness of Suffering – John 1:1-18

• December 7, 2020
• Pastor
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John 1:1-18

Have you ever found yourself on a vacation and your plans or your day was unexpectedly changed?  Perhaps you went to the beach and woke up to a day of rain.  Or maybe you went to the mountains and a storm knocked out the power.  Or maybe that’s your idea of vacation – nothing to do and no place to go and no interruptions.

 

Well, several years ago I found myself on such a vacation.  We were at the beach and it was a rainy afternoon and I found Sidney Sheldon’s novel, The Windmills of the Gods, on the shelf of the home we had rented.  By the way, it’s not a book about windmills or God.  But that’s beside the point.

 

There’s a scene where the main character, a lady named Mary, lost her young husband, a doctor.  She was left with her two children, and was trying to put her life back together.  She laid awake one night thinking how easy it would be to die, how happiness and love were so easily snatched away.  Then this thought ran through her mind, “The world is Dachau, and we are all Jews.”

 

Now… add to that story this one:

 

It was the Christmas of 1968.  Gerald Coffee was spending his third Christmas in prison.  His Vietnamese guards gave him and his fellow POW’s some candy.  He heard the guards outside talking and laughing with their families, celebrating Christmas.  One of the guards had a son who was about three or four years old, and Coffee thought of his own children back home.

 

He ate the candy and looked at the red and silver foil.  He began to form that foil into three shapes – a swan, a rosette, and a star.  That made him think about the star of Bethlehem.  He placed those three shapes above his bed and just laid there looking at them.  Then, he began thinking about the birth of Christ.  He knew it was only his faith that was getting him through.

 

Later, in his book Beyond Survival, Captain Gerald Coffee wrote that in that place there was nothing to distract him from the awesomeness of Christmas, even though he had lost everything that defined who he was.  He wrote, “Yet, I continued to find strength within.  I realized that although I was hurting and lonely and scared, this might be the most significant Christmas of my life.”

 

I share these two stories to highlight the fact that in times of darkness and suffering and disappointment and despair, one person saw nothing but darkness and the other saw the light.

 

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to John 1.  On these Sundays in Advent, leading up to the Christmas season, we’re in a series that I’m calling Bethlehem’s Light – where we’re thinking about Jesus as the light of Bethlehem.  Today, I want us to see Jesus as the light of life amidst the darkness of our suffering.

 

Today’s passage isn’t about the birth of Jesus, or about Mary and Joseph getting the news.  Rather, it takes us back to the very beginning – before there was even a human history – and it introduces us to the Son of God, to Jesus, as the Word.  Follow along with me as I read:

 

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  ² He was in the beginning with God.  ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.  ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

 

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through Him.  ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

 

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

 

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

 

The first eighteen verses of John’s Gospel are called his prologue.  It’s this long statement about the Word becoming flesh.  The Greek word for “word” is logos, the creative power of God at work in the universe, God Himself.

 

The Bible begins with this same kind of language, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1)  And the next thing God created was the light, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).

 

This creative power in the universe, this Word, this logos, God Himself, has come into the world in human form.  John tells us, in verse 4 that “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

 

John also tells us that at a certain point God (Himself) stepped onto the stage of human history, and when He did that, He stepped right into the middle of human suffering.

 

The Jews were suffering under the rule of Rome.  Now, it’s true that the Romans had brought about a time of peace (Pax Romana), but it was because no one could oppose them.  They brought developments in civilization, and had advanced human life in many ways, but at the same time the thumb of Rome had come down hard upon everybody.

 

Added to the political realities of living under Roman occupation you also had to face life filled with disease and hunger, sickness and death, injustice and persecution.  Yet, in the midst of all that suffering, the Bible says that Jesus was, “the light of all people” (John 1:)

 

Listen to me this morning; whatever it is that you’re facing right now . . . Christmas holds for you the promise of help and hope, the promise of light and love, the promise of joy and peace.  In the darkness of your own suffering, there’s a light that still shines.  To the darkness of sin, He is the light of holiness.  To the darkness of lies and falsehood, He is the light of truth.  To the darkness of ignorance of God, He is the light of wisdom.  To the darkness of sorrow, despair and depression, He is the light of joy.  And to the darkness of death, it’s none other than Jesus Christ who is the light of life.  And this morning I want to show you three ways that Jesus – Bethlehem’s light – ministers to us in the midst of our suffering.

 

Jesus Is The Light That Overcomes All Darkness

 

That’s the testimony of these verses.  Look at verse 5 again; “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

 

John is giving us the conclusion of the story before he even begins.  He’s telling us ahead of time how things turn out.  At the beginning of Jesus’ life – even before His official ministry and His crucifixion – He had already defeated the darkness of sin and death.

 

Imagine it; lying there in the manger was God’s answer to physical death.  God’s answer to spiritual death was the Babe of Bethlehem.  Jesus is the light that overcomes spiritual darkness and sin.  Do you know what this means for us?  It means that no matter what we face He has already defeated it.  He has already conquered it.  He has already overcome it.

 

Now don’t misunderstand me.  This doesn’t mean that we won’t face persecution or difficulty or suffering or disappointment.  Christians still face unpleasant medical diagnoses.  Christians still face persecution and death because of their faith.  Christian businesses still face all the same struggles that other small-business owners face.  Christian marriages and families still have to work through all the same difficulties and disappointments that life brings.

 

The difference is that believers in Jesus Christ, those that have put all their faith, hope, and trust in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, have the ultimate assurance that Jesus has overcome these things.  This means that the awesome news of Christmas is also the awesome news of Easter and the resurrection – VICTORY!  Jesus Christ has already won the victory, and everything you and I could ever possibly face has already been defeated.

 

That’s why we bow down around a manger.  It’s not because Jesus is a sweet, cute, bouncing, baby boy.  It’s because of what He became and what He did.  He drove the darkness right out of our lives.  This is something to brag about.  This is something that should make Christmas an exciting time – God has done this for us by sending Jesus.

 

Methodist minister, and later bishop, Ernest Fitzgerald recalled a man who taught a Sunday school class at a little church in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.  One Sunday, his lesson was titled, “What I Have Learned Thus Far.”  One of the things he mentioned was this, “Never forget in the dark what God has told you in the light.”

 

This Advent season, I hope that you’ll remember Jesus Christ is the light that has overcome all darkness and sin.

 

Jesus Is The Light That Enlightens Your Life

 

Look back at verse 9.  John tells us that, “The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.”

 

Jesus brought people out of the darkness and into the light.  He called out a Legion of demons from a possessed man in the Gerasenes.  He called Lazarus out of a tomb.  He called Zacchaeus out of the shade.  He called Bartimaeus out of blindness.  In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

 

Jesus is the light of life.  The One whose birth we anticipate this time of the year is, indeed, the light of the world.  He’s the true light that enlightens people – that is, He brings spiritual understanding and appreciation of exactly who He is and the truth of His Word.

 

The Bible is clear.  From cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation and everywhere in between we’re told (and we know from our own experiences) that we are sinners.  Proverbs 4:19 says, “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.”  The Apostle Paul would put it like this in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “In their case [i.e. those that are perishing] the god of this world [i.e. the Devil, Satan, the great deceiver] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 4:4-6)

 

The light that Jesus gives can reach into the dark corners of your life, and illuminate the truth of His Word and who He is and answer the perplexities of life.  The light of Christ can and will warm your heart so that you will see Him for who He is – your Savior.  Bethlehem’s light can and will fill your daily living with love and good deeds so that others will glorify your Father in heaven.

 

Remember that Jesus Christ will enlighten your life.  He knows how to turn the lights on because He is the light.

 

Jesus Is The Light That Empowers Your Living

 

Look at verse 13.  John says, “To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God.”

 

Jesus Christ is the light that empowers your daily living.  But this isn’t just any daily living.  This isn’t just power to get through the day.  It’s power for a specific purpose: “to become children of God.”  That’s who we are.  That’s who God has called us to be.  That’s what Jesus Christ empowers us to become – children of God.

 

That’s what Paul was after when he wrote to the Christians in Rome, that all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God, and if they are the children of God, then they are the heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.  That is, if we are willing to suffer with Him and thereby be glorified with Him (Romans 8:16-17, paraphrased).  That sheds a new light on the darkness of human suffering.

 

Do you really want your living to be empowered?  Do you really want Jesus Christ, who is the light, to bring you to the light that shines, in the midst of your suffering?  It just might cause you to do something you never would have thought of before.  You just might find yourself being a light person, spreading the light, sharing the light, giving away the light in the darkness of suffering.  That’s part of what it means to become a child of God.

 

Let me conclude with this little story.  I’ve used it before, so bear with me.  If you’ve never heard it, then I pray it will speak to you this Sunday of Advent.

 

A wealthy man enjoyed taking his son on business trips.  Often on these trips, the man would purchase various works of art – sometimes Renaissance, other times Impressionism, still others were Classics.  He filled his home with these paintings.

 

The boy grew to manhood and when war broke out, he went to serve his country.  In just a few months, the man received word his son had died in battle, trying to save the lives of some of his friends.  When the next Christmas came, the man found it difficult to get through the season.  The suffering he had experienced was too much.  But on Christmas morning, a young soldier came to his door and presented him with a portrait of his son.  The young soldier was among those whose lives had been saved.  The father placed the portrait over his fireplace.  He would often sit in front of it and think of his son.

 

Several years later, the man died.  His lawyer carried out his will.  The instructions were that the home and everything in it was to be sold at auction.  The first thing to be sold was the portrait of the man’s son.  When the auctioneer called out, “Do I hear a bid?” no one seemed to want the portrait.  To move things along, a man in the back said, “Ten dollars.”  The auctioneer said, “Going, going, gone.  Sold for ten dollars.  The auction is over.”

 

There was an outcry as people exclaimed, “What!  What do you mean ‘The auction is over’?”  The auctioneer explained, “The terms of the will are very clear: Whoever receives the son, receives everything.”

 

The Bible tells us that, “He who did not spare His Son, but gave Him up for all of us, will He not also give us all things with Him” (Romans 8:32)?  If you will receive the grace of this most indescribable gift of Christmas, then you will have it all, for you will have the light of life.  You will enter into a relationship with the One who said, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

The Light of Hope: In the Darkness of Despair – Isaiah 9:1-7

• November 29, 2020
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Isaiah 9:1-7

A student at The University of Georgia got a job as a disc jockey at a little radio station in Commerce, Georgia.  He also got a room at a hotel in town and commuted to school, which was not far away.  Sometimes, at night, he would crawl out of his window and sit on the roof of the hotel.  He would look out over that little town and ponder.  One night when he was up there, he wrote a song called “City Lights.”  And as they say; the rest is country music history.  His name was Bill Anderson.

 

A few years earlier, an Episcopalian minister in Boston worked himself to near exhaustion.  He was on the verge of a complete breakdown.  He was greatly depressed and almost gave up in despair.  But, he took some time off and went away on a trip.  He traveled to a place where he had never been before.  He saw the lights of a small town, walked along its streets, and in those lights, he found hope again.  He wrote a song which has in it these words:

 

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie;

above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by.

Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;

the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

And as they say; the rest is church history.  His name was Phillips Brooks.

 

The light of Bethlehem.  The light of Bethlehem is an everlasting light.  Over 2,000 years there’s never been a time when that light has gone out.  And today, that light of Bethlehem still shines on us.  On these Sundays of Advent, leading up to the season of Christmas and beyond, I want to share with you how the light of Bethlehem still shines on us.

 

So, if you have your copy of God’s Word, then let me invite you to turn with me to the book of Isaiah.  Similar to Jeremiah, where we were last week, the Book of Isaiah was written during a dark and dangerous time.  During a period of 150 years, both the northern and southern kingdoms were threatened by their enemies.  Both kingdoms fell and the people suffered the worst kind of defeat and agony.  Eventually, even Jerusalem was overrun – the walls torn down and the temple destroyed.  But in the midst of those years of darkness, even before the worst had come, the people were offered hope.

 

Call him a singer, call him a preacher, or call him a prophet; whatever you choose, he gave the Israelites words of hope.  And here are the words he gave them:

 

¹ “But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.  In the former time He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time He has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

 ² The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

³ You have multiplied the nation; You have increased its joy; they rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.

⁴ For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

⁵ For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷ Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

 

And as they say; the rest is Bible history.  By the way, his name was Isaiah.

 

The people who heard those words of God from that preacher needed to hear them because there was darkness all around them.  Powerful enemies had been trying to destroy them for centuries, and they were on the verge of destruction.  But in the darkness of despair, words of hope came to them.

 

The people living during that time, and on up to the time of Jesus, believed good and evil were equated with light and darkness.  They believed in the powers of darkness and the powers of light.  We don’t tend to think that way, although we still use phrases such as, “It’s a dark time,” “The dark night of the soul,” “The dark side,” “I’m wandering around in the dark,” “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” and “I’m beginning to see the light.”

 

We use these words and phrases because they describe what many of us have experienced.  It’s a common feeling.  It’s part of the human experience.  In fact, many of us have described this year in those terms.  2020 has been a year where it seems as though a cloud has settled over our world, and there’s a palpable darkness – even if the sun is shining.

 

And this happens on a personal level, too.  You test positive for COVID and begin spending 14 days in quarantine.  If you’re lucky you have a job that’s secure, but many don’t have that luxury.  If you don’t work you don’t get paid.  Some have even lost their jobs.  Then add to that all of the relationship dynamics that come along with missing out on church, missing the kids and grandkids, missing school friends, missing work colleagues, and on and on.  And we haven’t even gotten to the societal upheaval that we’re facing as a country.

 

Is it any wonder that many people feel hopeless.  Many people are sensing despair.  Many people are deeply discouraged, even as we move into a time of the year that should bring out the best in us.  Sometimes we find that the worst of our situation boils to the surface during Advent and Christmas.

 

Dr. William Carl, III, former President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary imagined a conversation between Archie Bunker and his son-in-law Meathead, who asked Archie if he knew what Advent meant.  Archie said, “Yeah, you add up all your hostile feelings and then you just vent them on somebody.  It’s people like you that make me enjoy Advent.”

 

Doesn’t that sound like 2020?  You just add up all your hostile feelings and then you just vent on somebody.  The darkness of despair is something that you can even experience during this season of Advent and Christmas.  But today Isaiah has a message for all of us – and especially for everybody that’s sensing the darkness of despair of 2020.  The message is that the light of Bethlehem and the light of hope still shines.

 

In fact, that’s the first thing I want us to consider this morning:

 

The Light Of Hope Still Shines On You

 

The light of hope shines brightest in despair.  Look back at verse 2, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”  This was hope for the present and for the future.  You know, it really doesn’t take much light to shine in the darkness.  A little light goes a long way.

 

I was watching one of my favorite HBO mini-series the other day for the umpteenth time – Band of Brothers – about the 501 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101^st Airborne Division during WWII.  And during the Battle of the Bulge, when both the Allies and Germans were locked in this seeming stalemate, the Allies had to be so careful about their fires.  You have these freezing cold temperatures and snowy conditions, made more difficult by the fact that our troops didn’t have winter gear and the natural tendency was to build a fire.  But the smallest flicker of flame would give away your position.

 

A little light goes a long way.  And there’s a light that still shines upon us, today.  It’s the light of hope.  Isaiah called it a “great light.”  But it wasn’t that great in the beginning.  Very few people even noticed it at first.  Isaiah gives us more detail about this great light in verse 6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6).  The light of hope would shine in the face of a child.

 

United Methodist theologian, and preacher, Paul Scherer, said we can have hope in a world “where Christmas comes out of a stable, the Son of God comes out of a smelly, little village, and twenty centuries of Christianity comes out of a tomb.”  Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness.  He’s the light of hope.  He’s the source of hope.  He’s our only reason for hope.

 

Some will miss it, of course.  I had a few errands to run the other night, and I saw a lot of people working really hard, frantically trying to purchase some happiness, hoping to bring some light into the darkness of their lives and the lives of those they love.  And just so that we’re clear; there’s nothing wrong with presents at Christmas and getting gifts for those you love – but the real light of hope is such a small thing it can almost be missed.

 

A man took his granddaughter to see the live manger scene at their church.  She stood there looking at everything: the manger, the holy family, the Wise Men, and the shepherds.  Then she pointed to the star.  He asked her if she thought the light shone into the stable.  She said, “Of course it does.  That’s why it’s so bright inside.  But, granddaddy, you can’t see how the light shines in, unless you get down and look up.”

 

Put yourself in a place where you can see the real light of hope, and it will shine on you.

 

The second thought I want us to consider this morning is this:

 

The Light Of Hope Will Enable You To Find Your Way

 

This light of hope will shine on the road you travel.  Look back at verse 2, “Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”  Not only had they seen a great light, that light had shined on them.  Not only does the light of Bethlehem signify hope – that someone is out there in the darkness – but the light of Bethlehem also enables us to find our way.

 

There was a little boy who was born in England in 1903 – the fifth of seven sons.  His family immigrated to the U.S. in 1908, when he was only five.  For those of you that remember, the teacher used to call the roll by last name first.  So, when she got to his name it was Hope, Leslie.  The other children started calling him, “Hopeless.”  He didn’t like that, because he was not hopeless.  He was a happy person.  He wanted a name that had a “friendly ‘Hiya, fellas!’ sound” to it.  Most of you know Leslie Hope as Bob…Hope.

 

Whatever is facing you, and whatever darkness surrounds you, there is a light that shines in the darkness, and that light shines on you.  And not only does it shine on you it enables you to find your way.

 

In her book Appointment Congo, author and missionary, Virginia Law told of her experience as a missionary in the Congo.  She said that at their mission station, there were men who served as night sentries.  They carried oil lanterns.  One night, one of them brought her a message.  She noticed his lantern and said, “That lamp doesn’t give much light, does it?”  He replied, “No.  It doesn’t.  But, it shines as far as I can step.”

 

This morning, I want to point you back to the words of Isaiah and remind you that you can find your way, as far as you can step, to wherever you need to go, in the light of Bethlehem’s hope.  The final point I want us to consider this morning is this:

 

The Light Of Hope Can Be Shared By You

 

Not only does the light of Bethlehem still shine in the darkness, and not only does the light of Bethlehem shine so that you can find your way, but you can share the hope of Bethlehem’s light so that others can find the way.

 

Isaiah also wrote how the joy of the nation had increased, how the people rejoiced, how the yoke of their burden was broken – for this child shall be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6)

 

You can share the light of hope, and increase joy, and break yokes of despair.  You can be a witness of this light by living the meaning of it, by being a person of hope, by reflecting the light of Christ, by sharing the warmth of it in your daily life, by inviting other people to come into this lighthouse to learn of the light and feel the warmth of it.  In this light, they will find hope.

 

Centuries ago, a nobleman in Europe built a church for his people.  It was a place of beauty.  He thought of everything.  But when it opened, and a great crowd of people came there, some of them noticed there were no lamps.  The nobleman pointed to lamp holders all down both sides.  Then, he gave each family a lamp and said, “Each time you are here, the place where you sit will be lighted.”  It was up to them to bring the light and share it.

 

On Christmas Eve, many, if not most, churches hold some form of candlelight worship.  In many of these services (like our own), worship ends when one-by-one the light of a single candle is passed from one person to another, until the entire sanctuary is filled with Bethlehem’s light.  The light of hope is something that we can share.  You don’t have to be a professional evangelist.  In fact, the best witnesses are often regular everyday people.  Your message doesn’t have to be perfect.  In fact, all of our stories of salvation are marked with scars and imperfections because we were sinners in need of a Savior.  You just need to be willing to extend the light of hope to your neighbor.

 

Author and pastor, Thomas Pilgrim, told a story about one year when the youth of the church where he was serving decided to have a live manger scene in front of the church.  One of the men built a stable.  The Sunday afternoon of the first performance, he went to the church to put the light in the stable.  He carefully held it in place and secured it with several nails.  He bent down to pick up one more nail, and when he looked back up, the light fell and hit him right above his left eye.  He ran inside and called his wife and told her to come quickly and take him to the emergency clinic.  He was bleeding too badly to see how to drive.  When she asked what happened, he told her, “The star of Bethlehem fell on me.”

 

I wonder, in this Advent season, if you would be willing to let the light of Bethlehem fall on you?  And would you then be willing to be a person who shares the hope of Bethlehem’s light with others?

Hope for a Glorious Future – Jeremiah 29:1-14

• November 22, 2020
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Jeremiah 29:1-14

As parents we’re always, one way or another, making plans for our families, especially our children.  Melissa and I are smack dab in the middle of raising older teenage boys and one of those plans is trying to determine whether college is on the table.  If so, which college, what major, how much can we afford, and so forth.  If college isn’t on the table – and I’m not convinced that every child is college bound.  There are plenty of young adults that have personalities that lend themselves to getting into the workforce and learning on the job skills and trades.  So, if college isn’t on the table for our boys, then what jobs and interests are there for them to pursue.

 

In addition to all of that we’re trying to make plans for retirement.  We’re considering plans that include caring for aging and widowed parents.  We’re making plans for holiday gatherings, and thinking about the plans for the coming week.  As your pastor, I have to carve out time in my weekly and monthly schedule to plan for sermons and Bible teaching.  I work with our staff and Deacons and Church Council to make financial plans, and ministry plans, and worship plans.  All of us are involved daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and so on, in some sort of planning.

 

Today, as we conclude this 4-week sermon series on hope, I want to take you to one of the most beloved and beautiful and encouraging passages of hope in all the Bible.  It is a section of Scripture that tells us that God has a great plan for us, as a church.  It teaches us that God has a positive future for us, as a people.  And it contains a principle that tells us God has not brought us this far only to leave us and forsake us, but rather that He has a great plan and a great purpose for us.  We have no idea just how great and glorious His plans are for us.  His future for us is intensely positive.  He has plans for us that include spiritual success and eternal glory.

 

So, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Jeremiah 29.  As you’re finding your place, however, I need to begin with a little disclaimer, a little warning, a little correction.  It’s very important that we understand the context of these verses, and that we understand who the original audience was and what these verses meant for them in their immediate situation before we move to making application for our own times.  If we don’t start here, then we run the risk of misinterpretation and misapplication and twisting God’s Word to say what we want it to say, rather than hear it for what it is – God’s message to His people.

 

With that being said, let me set the stage for us.  God is the speaker.  Jeremiah is the writer.  And God’s people – specifically the people of Israel – are the audience.  This is a letter that is tucked inside the larger writings of the prophet Jeremiah.  It’s a letter that God has dictated, if you will, to Jeremiah to deliver to the people of Israel who are living in a foreign land, and who are living under captivity.  Yet, this letter contains a message that was intensely positive in a time that was intensely painful.

 

These words came at a time when God’s people desperately needed to know that they had a hope and a future and that God had plans for them, as His people.  As this was given in this hour and this day they were living outside their land.  They were under God’s divine discipline.  It was at this time that they so desperately needed to hear these words from their God – that I have plans for you, and they are plans for your welfare and they are not plans for your calamity.  I have a plan for you to take you into the future and you ought to be filled with hope this very moment and this very hour.  I believe this is God’s message for us today.

 

Today, I have four things I want us to see.  But before we consider the first point, let’s read these verses together.  Jeremiah 29:1-14:

 

¹ These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.  ² This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem.  ³ The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.  It said: ⁴ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce.  ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.  ⁷ But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.  ⁸ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, ⁹ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.

 

¹⁰ “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.  ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you.  ¹³ You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.  ¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

 

God’s Word Was Sent

 

The first point I want us to understand is that God’s Word was sent (vss. 1-3).  God spoke to His prophet, Jeremiah, and gave him the content of this message.  Jeremiah, in turn, sent the letter from Jerusalem to the spiritual leaders of the nation of Israel that had been taken into exile in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.  Now we know, from the end of the Book of Jeremiah (chapter 52) exactly how many people were in exile at this time – 3,023 Jews – probably referring only to the adult male population.  So, it’s quite possible that there would have been as many as 10,000 Jews that had been taken captive against their will.  And Jeremiah wrote this letter, as it was given to him by the living God, and he gave it to two men: Elasah the son of Shaphan and Germariah the son of Hilkiah to deliver to the people of Israel.  So, God’s Word was sent.

 

But I also want to pause and make sure that you understand that this letter was nothing more and nothing less than the inspired and infallible Word of God.  I want you to take your eye and follow along with me through the entire chapter and notice an unmistakable theme.  Look at how verse 4 begins: “Thus says the Lord of hosts…”  Look at verse 8: “For thus says the Lord of hosts…”  Look at verse 10: “For thus says the Lord…”  In the middle of verse 11 we read this phrase, “declares the Lord…”  In verse 14 that phrase is mentioned twice.  Let your eye come down to verse 16: “Thus says the Lord…”  Look at verse 17: “Thus says the Lord of hosts…”  In verse 19 we see that little phrase again (twice), “declares the Lord…”  Verse 20 begins this way, “Hear the word of the Lord…”  Verses 21 and 25 both begin, “Thus says the Lord of hosts…”  Verse 30 says, “Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah…”  Verses 31 and 32 say, “Thus says the Lord…”  And the passage ends with that little phrase again, “declares the Lord…”

 

It’s unmistakable.  It’s impossible to read Jeremiah 29 and not hear the thunder of this chapter – again and again and again – that this is the Word of the Lord.  It’s unquestionable.  It’s the inspired and inerrant Word of God.  If there’s one thing that we (at Mountain Hill) want, it’s to be known as people who believe that the Bible is the Word of the Lord.

 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, wrote this many years ago and it’s still true today: “This volume is the writing of the living God; each letter was penned with an Almighty finger; each word in it dropped from the everlasting lips; each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit.  Albeit that Moses was employed to write its histories with his fiery pen, God guided that pen.  It may be that David touched his harp and let sweet Psalms of melody drop from his fingers, but God moved his hands over the living strings.  Solomon sang songs of love and gave forth words of consummate wisdom, but God directed his lips.  If I follow the thundering Nahum, when his horses plowed the waters or Habakkuk when he sees the tents of Kishon in affliction.  If I read Malachi when the earth is burning like an oven.  If I turn to the smooth pages of John who tells of love, or the rugged chapters of Peter who speaks of fire devouring God’s enemies.  If I turn aside to Jude who launches forth an anathema upon the foes of God, everywhere I turn in the Bible I find God speaking.  It is God’s voice, not man’s.  The words are God’s words, the words of the Eternal, the Invisible, the Almighty, the Jehovah of the ages.”

 

So, it was God’s Word that was sent to the exiles.  Not Jeremiah’s word.  Not Nebuchadnezzar’s word.  Not some unknown, anonymous, author’s words.  It was God’s Word.  And you and I can take comfort in hearing these words today.

 

God’s Wisdom Was Shared

 

Beginning in verse 5, what we find contained in this letter from God was divine wisdom – wisdom for daily living, wisdom to help God’s people live successfully in difficult times.  Do you need that today?  Do you need God’s wisdom to help you live successfully in a difficult world?  You better believe it.  We all need God’s wisdom, and so we read very practical advice.  In verses 5-7 God basically says, “Listen, you’re going to be here a while, so go ahead and build houses and raise your kids – give them in marriage and have grandchildren.  This place where you are is going to be home for quite some time.”

 

Now this is how Jeremiah 29 is often misquoted.  People don’t realize the context of the verse was divine discipline.  They don’t realize that God was punishing His children for their disobedience.  But that’s what’s taking place.  The Jews had been living in the Promised Land for 490 years prior to this time.  And one of the pieces of wisdom that God had shared with them when they came into the Promised Land was that every seventh (7^th) year was to be a sabbatical year.  They were supposed to let the land rest.  But they disobeyed that little piece of God’s wisdom and said, “Hey, thanks but no thanks, God.  If we work on the seventh year, then we can make even more money, we can be even more productive.  Let’s not rest on the seventh year.”  So, one of the ways that God got their attention was to allow them to be taken into captivity.  Jeremiah 29:10 tells us that they’re going to be in captivity for 70 years.  If you do a little math and take 490 years and divide that by 7 – representing the sabbatical year – you end up with 70 years.  God says, “Hey, you didn’t listen to my initial wisdom concerning the sabbatical year, so I’ll get your attention.”  Now, to be fair, there were many other reasons that God allowed them to be taken captive as well.  They were turning to idols and becoming more and more like the pagan nations around them.  So, it wasn’t just this sabbatical year issue.

 

But the point is this: this isn’t just some short detour from their normal way of life.  If you were among the elders and older generation, then there’s a good chance you’re not going back to your homeland.  You’re going to die in captivity.  So, the instruction that God gives them here is very basic: settle down and live your lives.  And notice verse 7, “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

 

Now wait a minute.  This is a pagan city.  This is a secular and godless city, and yet God is telling them to seek its welfare.  God says, “I don’t want you to be needlessly offensive.  I don’t want you to be provocative when you don’t need to be.  Rather, I want you to be a peacemaker.  I want you to love your enemies.  I want you to live in a way that would honor me, while you’re there living in this pagan land.  Intercede for this city, because when it prospers you will prosper.”  So what God is saying is this: don’t be troublemakers, you don’t need to be needlessly irritating, rather you need to seek the very best for the city and town and country where you’re living.

 

Isn’t there some wisdom here for us too?  We’re living in a pretty pagan and godless society today, aren’t we?  Shouldn’t we seek the welfare of our communities?  Shouldn’t we seek to be peacemakers, if at all possible.  We don’t need to be needlessly irritating and offensive.  Now don’t misunderstand me.  When we share the Good News of the gospel and let people know that they’re sinners in need of a Savior, that message will oftentimes sound offensive.  It will oftentimes seem irritating, but that’s not what I’m talking about.  We need to love our neighbors even while we hold out the truth of God’s Word.  But there’s a way to share the truth in love and there’s a way to share the truth in arrogance and irritation.  Let’s not compromise the Word of God, but let’s also find ways to speak with grace and love.

 

God’s Warning Was Sounded

 

Look at verses 8-9, “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in My name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.”

 

Now there are two things that I need to clarify for you.  When you look back at verse 1 you’ll notice that this letter was sent by Jeremiah to the spiritual leadership of the nation of Israel, and that included priests and prophets.  So, what gives?  Well, apparently what God is saying here is that there are false prophets among the crowd.  There are self-proclaiming preachers among the Jews.  There are people that want the authority and the power that comes along with being a spokesman for God, and so they just took it upon themselves to do that.  They weren’t called by God.  They didn’t surrender to the call of ministry.  They’re frauds.  They’re imposters.  And God warns the people to be on guard against their message, because it’s not coming from Him.

 

In fact, if you flip back one chapter to Jeremiah 28 this is what you’ll read: In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.  Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.  I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” (Jeremiah 28:1-4)

 

And if you continue reading that chapter you’ll discover that God did NOT tell Hananiah that He would return the people in two years.  Look at Jeremiah 28:12-17: Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron.  For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.’”  And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.  Therefore, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth.  This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’”  In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

 

The greatest danger to God’s people while they were in an ungodly place wasn’t the people of Babylon.  It was the false teachers within their midst.  It was the false prophets that were saying, “Hey guys, don’t worry.  This is all going to be over in two years.”  They were lying to the people.  They were offering a message that they knew the people wanted to hear.

 

And folks there are false prophets today saying, “Hey, God spoke to me in a dream and this is what He said.  Hey, I have a new revelation for you today.  God’s going to deliver you from your sickness in 6 weeks.  God’s going to bless you with financial riches this coming year.  God’s going to restore your broken marriage or your strained relationship with your child.  God’s going to see to it that Donald Trump is President for the next four years.”  And God can do all of those things, for sure.  But we need to be very careful who we’re listening to and how they’re proclaiming God’s message.  Because it’s a very dangerous thing to claim to speak for God when He hasn’t said what you’re saying He said.  In Hananiah’s case it meant death.

 

God’s Will Was Sure

 

That brings us to the last point I want us to see, and it’s actually the main thrust of these verses: God’s will was sure.  We pick up in verse 10, and this is what we read, “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.”  What God is saying is this: I have a calendar and I have already marked the date when I’m coming back for you.  Yes, you’re going to be here for a while, but I know when I’m coming back for you and I’ll be right on time.

 

Now look at verse 11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  God says, “I have a master plan for you as a people.”  It involves where you will be and when you’ll get there.  And I just want to break verse 11 down and look at a couple of the specifics of what God is saying here.

 

First, notice that God knows the plans.  He knows fully well what He’s about to do with His people.  He knows every detail of His plan.  There’s nothing out there that God hasn’t already considered.  There’s nothing that could happen or will happen that God isn’t already aware of.  And the same is true for me and you.  God knows His plans for us.

 

Second, these plans are carefully designed by God.  Notice that these are God’s plans.  These aren’t the plans of the people of Israel.  These aren’t Jeremiah’s plans.  These aren’t Nebuchadnezzar’s plans.  These aren’t the plans of some consulting firm.  These aren’t the plans of some ecumenical council.  They were extremely well-thought out.  Nothing was left to chance.  Nothing is left to blind fate.  God is the great designer.

 

Third, notice that these plans are blessed.  The Bible says these plans are for our welfare and not calamity.  God is not scheming their demise.  God is not planning for their failure or destruction.  God is planning for their welfare.  That word “welfare” in the Hebrew is actually the word shalom – the Hebrew word for “peace.”  These are plans for their good.  Who would ever want to go against God’s plans for their life, and yet we do it all the time.  I find great hope in the fact that we’re not alone.  God goes before us and behind, and He’s right there beside us all the way.  All we have to do is be willing to submit ourselves to His plans, rather than our own.

 

Fourth, notice that these plans are graciously given.  “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Do the Israelites deserve a future at this point?  No, they’ve been disobedient and rebellious, that’s why they’re in captivity.  Yet, despite their rebellion, God is already making plans to bless them.  God’s out in front of this entire scene and He’s making plans to bless His disobedient children.  Sounds a little bit like you and me, doesn’t it?

 

Listen to these words from Ephesians 2:4-7, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raise us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

 

Or how about this from Romans 5, “[B]ut God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

Fifth, and finally, notice that the goal of these plans is a future and a hope.  Now, in one sense the Jews were always going to have a future.  You and I are going to have a future.  As long as we’re breathing and taking nourishment there’s going to be a future for us.  It might be a future measured in minutes or days or weeks, perhaps even years.  But that’s not the point of this word.  The future for God’s children is always great and glorious.  The best is always yet to come.  Why?  Because God’s plans always point to hope.  Hope that’s not uncertain, but hope that’s grounded in the reality of Christ Jesus.

 

So, as we reflect on this most glorious and beautiful promise of hope in God’s word, may we seek Him with all of our hearts.  May we call upon Him.  May we pray to Him.  May we seek to glorify God in all that we do, knowing that He already has great and wonderful plans for us and our future with Him.

Hope for the Days Ahead – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

• November 15, 2020
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1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

We’re continuing this morning to discover the many avenues and aspects of hope that we find in the Bible.  And today’s passage is probably one that’s a little unconventional.  Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 4.  Now Paul’s letters to the church in Thessalonica are among some of his less studied pastoral epistles, but they contain some very encouraging words to believers living in difficult days.

 

If you’ve read through the Acts of the Apostles, then you know some of the historical background of Thessalonica and Paul’s visit to that city.  You’ll remember, for example, that Paul and Silas had been in prison in Philippi and when they’re released they travel over to Thessalonica and stay there for three Sabbaths (Acts 17).  Paul preaches about Jesus Christ in the synagogue, as the Passover Lamb, and many of the Jews listen and convert to Christianity.  The others get extremely jealous and they drive him out of the synagogue and ultimately out of the city.

 

Paul eventually makes his way down through Athens and ends up in the city of Corinth.  And while he’s there teaching and discipling, some of the believers come down from Thessalonica and tell Paul that the church is all in an uproar because of some misunderstandings about some of the things he had previously taught.  And there are two things in particular that they had gotten mixed up.

 

First, the Thessalonian believers had misunderstood Paul to teach the immediate return of Jesus, rather than the imminent return of Jesus.  Now those two words sound familiar (immediate vs. imminent), but they’re very different.  Paul did NOT teach the immediate return of Jesus.  After all, no one knows the day or the hour not even the Son.  But he did teach the imminent return, the forthcoming return, the fact that Jesus would return was a sure thing.

 

The second thing that the Thessalonian believers had misunderstood was what happened to their loved ones.  See, what they understood Paul to say was that unless you were still living when Jesus returned, then you were lost.  So, you have people that are understandably concerned and upset because they had a spouse die, or a child die, or a parent die, or a friend die before Jesus returned and they were distraught.  They were spiritually panicked.  They were anxious doctrinally.  They were restless personally.  And so, Paul comes and provides clarity and hope on these issues.

 

Pick up with me as I read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

 

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.  ¹⁵ For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

 

Verse 18 is the entire reason why we’re considering this passage in our series on hope.  Paul explicitly tells the Thessalonians, and by extension, you and me, to encourage one another with these words.  The fact of the matter is this.  Many churches have forgotten the importance of teaching the second coming of Jesus.

 

Orthodox Christian teaching has always asserted that Jesus will one day visibly return as Judge and King of creation.  The ecumenical creeds of the early church all affirm that Jesus will “come again to judge the living and the dead,” and the Reformed confessions that have followed them also endorse this understanding.  Here is our hope.  In the days of greatest fear, that fear will dissipate if we will focus on the return of Christ.  Yet, when was the last time that you remember hearing a sermon that called you to look forward with great anticipation the Day of the Lord’s return?

 

Majestic Return

 

As always, there are three things that I want to highlight for us and the first is this – when Jesus returns it will be majestic.  That’s what’s described in verse 16, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.”  It will be majestic.

 

Now there are three things that Paul says will mark this majestic return.  The first is a cry of command.  Some of your Bibles might even call it a shout.  But make no mistake about it, it’s going to be majestic.  I don’t know what it was like on October 19, 1781 early in the morning when Gen. George Washington rode out to watch the rebel troops firing on the city of Yorktown, knowing that the French had blocked Cornwallis’ retreat and that he would witness victory for a young America.  I don’t know what it sounded like that day when Washington spoke with those troops, but I bet it was majestic.

 

I don’t know what it sounded like when Napoleon gave command to fire at the Battle of Austerlitz, but I bet you it was majestic.  I don’t know what it sounded like when Lord Nelson stood on the deck of a British ship and commanded bombardment of the French fleet, but I bet it was majestic.  I don’t know what it sounded like Hancock warned the Second Corps of the Federal Army, up on Cemetery Ridge, “Here come the Rebels!”  But I bet it was majestic.  I’m tell you, when Jesus returns there’s going to be a shout and when you hear that shout it will sound like majesty has spoken.

 

The second description or mark of this majestic return will be the voice of an archangel.  Did you know that there is never a time in the Bible where angels speak that the people hearing them have to go and find an interpreter?  You never find a person that says, “Hold on minute, your accent is too think.  I don’t understand what you’re saying.”  When angels speak it’s with great clarity and great power.  In that day we will hear the voice of an archangel and that angel’s voice will be understood and it will be as majestic as the Word of God itself.

 

There’s a third thing mentioned here and that’s the sound of the trumpet of God.  Now many of you have heard of the shofar, or the ram’s horn.  You might have even seen one or heard one being played, but this is not that kind of horn.  Numbers 10 describes the trumpets that I believe are going to be played here.  Listen, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Make two silver trumpets.  Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp.’”  Those trumpets described in Numbers 10 were made from the silver that was given as the redemption price for the firstborn.  And one day you and I are going to hear the sound of a trumpet of redemption (amen?).  And when that trumpet toots we gonna scoot.

 

Paul writes to the Corinthians and says, “Behold!  I tell you a mystery.  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).  That’s what I believe he’s saying here too.  When Jesus returns in all of His splendor and glory it will be majestic.

 

Triumphant Return

 

Now the second thing I want to highlight for us is this – when Jesus returns it will be triumphant.  Look at verse 17, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”  The Greek word that’s used in the middle of that verse is the word harpazó.  It means “to be grabbed up,” “to be snatched up,” “to be pulled up,” “to be caught up,” and every time you see this word you’ll see a parenthetical comment indicating that it’s a violent snatching up and it’s irresistible.  Now this word harpazó was taken by Jerome and translated from the Greek into the Latin Vulgate as raptio, which is where we get the English word “rapture.”  When Jesus returns for His own it will be triumphant.  There won’t be any resisting or hesitation – it will be triumphant.

 

In John 14 we read these comforting words, “Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3).  Listen, nobody is going to stop Jesus from doing that.  His return will be majestic and it will be triumphant.

 

Personal Return

 

Finally, when Jesus returns He will come for each of His children personally.  Look back at verse 16 again, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven…”  Jesus isn’t going to send Michael or Gabriel or Billy Graham to gather His children.  The Lord Himself will come.  Do you remember a few weeks ago when we were looking at Acts 1, and the angels said to the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?  This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.”  If we live long enough, and the time comes for us to be called up to heaven, it will be Jesus Himself that will come for us.

 

As I close this morning, listen to me closely.  In those moments where you and I begin to despair because of the news, because of our health, because of our finances, because life is just too difficult, Paul says you encourage one another with these words.  Encourage one another with the truth and the reality and the hope that Jesus is going to come back for us so that we will always be with the Lord.  Be encouraged!  Jesus is coming back!

 

There’s no fear that this news can’t overcome.  Listen, you’ve been treated unfairly, that’s okay Jesus is coming back.  You’ve been struggling in a situation . . . lift up your head brother, lift up your head sister.  Jesus is coming back.  Oh, what a majestic and triumphant moment it will be when Jesus comes back Himself for you and me.

Hope in Discouraging Times – Psalm 42

• November 8, 2020
• Pastor
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Psalm 42:1-11

This morning, I want us to take just a few minutes to consider Psalm 42.  So, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn to Psalm 42.  Richard Sibbes, one of the great old Puritan preachers of Cambridge who died in 1635, wrote a whole book on Psalm 42:5.  He was called “the sweet dropper” because of how much confidence and joy his sermons caused.  He called his book The Soul’s Conflict with Itself, because in Psalm 42:5 that’s exactly what you have; the soul arguing with itself, preaching to itself.  You see, hoping in God doesn’t come naturally for sinners like us.  We’ve got to preach it to ourselves, and preach diligently and forcefully, or we’ll give way to a downcast and disquieted spirit.  Follow along with me as I read Psalm 42:

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,

    so my soul pants for you, my God.

² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

    When can I go and meet with God?

³ My tears have been my food

    day and night,

while people say to me all day long,

    “Where is your God?”

⁴ These things I remember

    as I pour out my soul:

how I used to go to the house of God

    under the protection of the Mighty One

with shouts of joy and praise

    among the festive throng.

 

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?

    Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

    for I will yet praise Him,

    my Savior and my God.

 

⁶ My soul is downcast within me;

    Therefore, I will remember You

from the land of the Jordan,

    the heights of Hermon – from Mount Mizar.

⁷ Deep calls to deep

    in the roar of Your waterfalls;

all Your waves and breakers

    have swept over me.

 

⁸ By day the Lord directs His love,

    at night His song is with me –

    a prayer to the God of my life.

 

⁹ I say to God my Rock,

    “Why have You forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

    oppressed by the enemy?”

¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony

    as my foes taunt me,

saying to me all day long,

    “Where is your God?”

 

¹¹ Why, my soul, are you downcast?

    Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

    for I will yet praise Him,

    my Savior and my God.

This morning, I want to quickly offer us (be me, specifically) some hope when dealing with discouragement.

It’s Okay To Ask God “Why”

Notice that the Psalmist responds to his circumstances at one point by asking God, “Why?”  Verse 9: “I say to God, my rock: ‘Why have you forgotten me?  Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?’”  The word “forgotten” is an overstatement.  And he knows it.  He just said in verse 8, “By day the Lord commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me.”

It would be good if all of us were so composed and careful in the expression of our discouragements that we never said anything amiss.  But that just isn’t the way we are.  In the midst of the tumult of emotions, we’re not always careful with our words.  So, he asks “Why?”  It’s a legitimate question.  He may not have asked the question with theological or linguistic precision, but if he proves in time that he didn’t mean that God had forgotten him, we will let that be words for the wind.

He Affirms God’s Sovereign Love

Verse 8: “By day the Lord commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.”  In verses 5 and 11, he calls God “my salvation [or Savior] and my God.”  And even though he says it looks as if God has forgotten him, he never stops believing in the absolute sovereignty of God over all his adversity.  So, at the end of verse 7, he says, “All Your breakers and Your waves have gone over me.”

In other words, all his crashing and tumultuous and oppressing and discouraging circumstances are the waves of God.  He never loses this grip on the great truths about God.  They are the ballast in his little boat of faith.  They keep him from capsizing in the tumult of his emotions.

Oh, how many of you have learned this more deeply than me because of the waves that have broken over your lives.  You’ve learned deeply that it’s no relief to say that God does not rule the wind and the waves.  So, the psalmist affirms God’s sovereign love for him in and through all the troubles.

He Sings

Again, verse 8: “By day the Lord commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.”  This is not a song of jubilant hope.  He doesn’t feel jubilant hope.  That’s what he’s seeking – jubilant hope.  But isn’t it amazing that he’s singing his prayer!  Not many of us can compose songs when we’re discouraged and weeping day and night.  That’s why a singable psalter is good to keep around – or a hymnbook with the whole array of emotions.  For example, Isaac Watts wrote these verses to be sung:

How long wilt Thou conceal Thy face?

   My God, how long delay?

When shall I feel those heav’nly rays

   That chase my fears away?

 How long shall my poor laboring soul

   Wrestle and toil in vain?

Thy word can all my foes control

   And ease my raging pain.

That’s not a jubilant song.  But it is a song of faith.  And it’s shaped by thinking and feeling with God in the Psalms.

He Preaches To His Own Soul

Fourth, the psalmist preaches to his own soul.  Verse 5: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”  Oh, how crucial this is in the fight of faith.  We must learn to preach the truth to ourselves.  “How do you do that pastor?”

“Listen, self: If God is for you, who can be against you?  He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for you, how will He not also with Him graciously give you all things?  Who shall bring any charge against you as God’s elect?  It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn?  Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for you.  Who shall separate you from the love of Christ?” (Romans 8:31–35 paraphrased)

He Remembers Past Experiences

 Fifth, the psalmist remembers.  He calls past experiences to mind.  He remembers past corporate worship experiences.  Verse 4: “These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.”

Oh, how much could be said here about the importance of corporate worship in our lives.  Don’t take these times together lightly.  What we do at church is a real transaction with the living God.  That’s why it pains me that we’re not presently able to be together.  God means for these encounters with Him in corporate worship to preserve your faith now and in the way you remember them later.  This is not simply engaging in nostalgia.  He’s confirming his faith in the midst of turmoil and discouragement by remembering how real God was in corporate worship.

He Thirsts For God

Finally, the psalmist thirsts for God like a deer pants for the stream.  Verses 1–2: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and appear before God?”  What makes this so beautiful, and so crucial for us, is that he’s not thirsting mainly for relief from his threatening circumstances.  He’s not thirsting mainly for escape.

It’s not wrong to want relief and to pray for it.  It is sometimes right to pray for the defeat of enemies.  But more important than any of that is God Himself.  When we think and feel with God in the Psalms, this is the main result: we come to love God, and we want to see God and be with God and be satisfied in admiring and exulting in God.

So that’s a sermon for me, today.  Perhaps there was something in there for you too.  May the Lord increase our hunger and our thirst to see the face of God.  And may He grant our desire through the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.