Worship Services/Sermon in Phoenix 14.09.2014

May the peace of God which passes all human understanding rest in our hearts now and forever. Amen. Let us quieten this evening in prayer and thanksgiving.

Dear heavenly Father, our holy and righteous God, we have been, again, granted opportunity this evening to gather around your holy and precious word. And we pray, dear Father, for your presence that you would, with your Holy Spirit, reveal unto us that which you know we need.

We are those kinds of weak and poor travelers who need your guiding hand. We need instruction of your word. But most of all, dear Father, we need encouragement to take another step towards heaven. We often find ourselves to be those kinds of travelers who tire and weary on the journey. And dear Father, you've promised through your word to comfort even those ones who are weak and poor.

So this evening, dear Father, we pray for your service blessing. Break onto us your word according to your holy and righteous will. All of this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Before reading a portion for our study this evening, many loving greetings from your brothers and sisters north from here.

Meg and I went yesterday afternoon up to Flagstaff. We were there last evening, and they had a meeting there around the organizational matters of their congregation as they make plans to officially organize and install workers, board members into the work. So we were there for that evening, and then today, we were there for services as well as some baptisms. And those believers there ask that your greet their greetings would be returned here and ask that you would remember them in their work and their endeavor there in Flagstaff. Quite a marvel to consider all of that which God has provided and done for us here in this area of the Southwest in recent years.

I thought to read, excuse me, a portion of God's word this evening from the fourth book, fourth chapter of Hebrews. And the words are beginning in the ninth verse in Jesus' name.

"There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Amen.

Perhaps for me, these kinds of texts feel to be a little bit more close, especially after a busy day and a busy weekend when considering the work that we have before us. And also, as a person ages, we tire and we lament often of the journey that we're embarked on. And many of the older brothers and sisters have often asked and commented, "When is it their turn to go home?"

We know that Jesus, as in our text, it said, lived.

He lived here in this world, this sin-corrupt world, and he was sent by God, his own Father. And he sent him here for a specific reason that he would come and to fulfill all that his Father wanted him to do. He lived his life in perfection. As in our text, it says he was tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He taught and he instructed so perfectly, and he made and paved the way for the child of God to make it to the glory of heaven.

This was Jesus's work. His Father's work had been completed before He had lived on this earth. God, in His creation work, created all things. And on the seventh day, He rested. And when Jesus left this world to return to His Father, He left the work of His kingdom, and He entrusted that to His own.

And dear brothers and sisters, that is the work that God has left us with. The work forms are many. Even in our day, when we consider how many different types of work are being done in God's kingdom, we marvel and rejoice at the complexity and the myriad of types of work and how this work is being done. But it's being done in God's time and according to His will and also according to His wishes. So we're not alone in the work at all, but rather God is directing the work.

It is His work. It is His kingdom, and we are His children. God's kingdom will be here now as it always has been. And God's kingdom will remain here on this earth until the end of time comes. So this work that has been left has been left for His children.

And this also is that which the writer of this book of Hebrews writes of where he says, "There remaineth, therefore, a rest for the people of God." And this rest that waits is that kind of rest that would be an eternal Sabbath, an eternal day of rest where there would be no more sorrow or pain or suffering. But that which especially the heart of a child of God yearns for. I was not so many days ago visiting there with our brother Ed and Julia, brother Ed and his wife, Julia, and they send greetings. You know, Ed is getting older and he can't travel, move so easily any longer.

So we'll be having some services from time to time at their home. And it was that kind of a service day when we were remembering, especially in old age, the difficulties that come. Our health begins to fail and so on. And we remember those words of the apostle where the apostle writes that if this earthly house or this earthly tabernacle were dissolved, or we say, if it is, but when it is. When this earthly body is dissolved and this tabernacle is dissolved.

The apostle says we have a home in heaven, eternal in the heavens waiting. And this is that which the heart of a child of God yearns for. Already at a young age, our minds often turn to heaven, don't they? I'm sure you girls here in the front bench have thought about heaven. You have pondered those things, and perhaps you have even asked mom and dad what heaven is like.

And I'm not sure your mom and dad have been able to give a very clear answer of what heaven is like. But God's word tells us that heaven is a place that will be a place of rest. It's a perfect place. And there will be no pain or sorrow or suffering, but it is that which waits for the child of God. So if this waits for us, then the writer says, let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.

What is this labor that he speaks of here? It would be this: that we would endeavor to remain believing. You know, the journey of a child of God is a very—it's a narrow pathway. God's word says that the pathway is straight and narrow, and few there be that find it. The door into God's kingdom is a very narrow door.

It is narrow for this reason: that we can bring nothing of our own into it. We can only travel, void of any of our own goodness, into God's kingdom. The way into God's kingdom is through His Son. And through Him, we can believe that our sins are forgiven. We find ourselves to be sinners.

And in believing then, the door of God's kingdom is open and one can enter. But we cannot bring any of our own goodness. We can't say that we have been deserving of this gift of faith. We cannot boast that our lives have been so good that we deserve this or for some reason that we would be able to benefit from some of our own goodness. Not at all, but only because God has called us and revealed unto us the way that leads to heaven.

And he, through his Son, has promised to forgive us our sins. So this narrow road that is before us is narrow, but it's not so narrow that we have to travel alone. We have our brothers and sisters in faith to help us. They can escort us along this pathway that leads to the glory of heaven.

And so when the writer here says, let us labor onto that rest, it would mean that we would take that cross as Jesus said. Take that cross. Take your cross and follow me. It means that we need to carry this old sin-corrupt portion with us. And daily, we have to beat back our own desires and our own tendencies. We have to take our corrupt mind captive, and we need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

And what are those footsteps of Jesus? We follow him in life, in suffering, in doctrine. Jesus is left a way to make it to the glory of heaven. The doctrine, the teaching of Jesus has been left, and that's for us to learn.

You know, when Paul wrote to young Timothy, Timothy was a young man, one of his coworkers, a very close friend of Paul. It would have been like an older father taking a young nephew or some young friend to be his coworker. And Paul took him close and he taught him. You know, Paul was very learned.

He had learned at the feet of Gamaliel. Gamaliel was a wise teacher of the Pharisaic law. And Paul studied under Gamaliel. And Paul says I was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was learned as any other Pharisee was learned.

So Paul knew scriptures. But before his conversion, he was using his understanding in a wrong way. He was actually persecuting the believers. But you remember when he was called into the kingdom, how then, in so many places, Paul said that he needed to take his flesh captive and his mind captive, and he needed to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. And he taught Timothy, and Timothy learned from him.

And as he was in his farewell speech to Timothy, he told Timothy that I want to return. But if I tarry long, you have learned and you know how to behave yourself in the house of the living God. You have learned those things from a child. Timothy's mother and grandmother were believers, and he learned the mysteries of God's kingdom from his grandmother and his mother. Timothy's father was not a believer.

It is thought that Timothy's father—well, we know he was a Greek—but it was thought that Timothy's father was very involved perhaps in the Olympic trials and races and stuff of their day. One of those who was very involved in those kinds of sports that even today is tempting and pleasing for the flesh of man. But elsewhere, we remember how Paul also told Timothy that bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness with contentment is great gain. So he needed to teach and remind Timothy that those accomplishments of sport or life are really insignificant. They're unimportant.

What's important is godliness with contentment. And so that kind of teaching that Timothy received, we have also received as God's children. And that which we have learned, we also are encouraged and instructed to teach.

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses, when he was having a speech there for the children of Israel, he was reminding those children of Israel of those things that they had learned. And then he told the parents that when you teach these to your children, do it when you're sitting down, when you rise up, when you're walking, and when you're lying down.

Meaning that never quit teaching those children. And never quit teaching those matters of ABCs, the basic teachings of God's word. The psalmist says those things that we learn as a young boy or a young girl, we remember when we're old and gray-headed. We ask the elders here today of those things that you learned as a girl, as a boy. Many times you have recounted them in our visits of what you learned as a little boy or as a little girl, and you've held on to those as dear truths your whole life.

God has preserved you. God has protected you and kept you as His own. We see how gracious and loving God is. He's given us the teaching and instruction that is required for us to make it to the glory of heaven. And He's promised then to also keep us as His own.

And then He wants us to labor, therefore, onto that rest. That we would teach, that we would preach, and that we would remind. And your grandmothers and grandfathers can remind your grandchildren of how God has cared for you. Each of you would have that kind of a song. Each one of us has that kind of a song where we can look back yesterday, last week, last month, last year, or it could be the last decade.

It could be any length of time when we look back and we can see how God has taken care of us as His children. And He's provided for us a way to travel. When we look at the immediate and especially when we find ourselves tempted, you know, the treasure that is in your heart, the enemy of souls, that treasure of faith, the enemy of souls hates that. The enemy of souls would rather you give up that gift of faith that you own and follow him. And he despises that gift, and he hates that gift.

And he especially hates when God's word is spoken. And he especially hates when the gospel of the forgiveness of sins is preached. This is what the devil hates. Because in God's word, it says, the devil flees from God's word. But the devil is that kind as Peter writes.

He says a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And when you think about a roaring lion, you know, when a lion goes to hunt, he doesn't roar. But rather, a lion goes very cunning and very sneaky. He lays in the tall grasses, and he waits for his prey to come by unsuspecting. And then when the prey comes by unsuspecting, he leaps.

And when he leaps and he has that prey, then he can roar. And that roaring would be this kind of a roar that he's victorious, and he has won over that unsuspecting individual. He works the same way for us, doesn't he? He goes about in very sneaky ways, minimizing sin and tempting us to go this way or that way. And you brothers and sisters with me know how he's tempted us.

Oh, he's so sneaky. He can tempt us in ways that all of a sudden we're surprised to realize how did I get here, and what am I doing in this place? All of a sudden, we find ourselves unwatchful. This is also what the writer means when he says, let us therefore labor onto that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

We know that there are those who have fallen away from God's kingdom into unbelief. Sin separates man from God. Sin starts in a very small way, very subtle way, very sneaky. But in the end, the result of sin is separation from God. And if we die with that separation, if we die as an unbeliever, we are eternally separated from our heavenly Father.

And there is no rest, but rather eternal damnation. Brothers and sisters, it is worth, it is so worth these few days in this life that we would remain faithful, that we would remain watchful, that we would remain obedient. There does remain a rest for the entire traveler. Also, in this text then, He says the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. When it says the word of God is quick, when we think of that, it's an old English word.

When we talk about someone quick, it means someone that can run real quick or fast. But when it's written here where the word of God is quick, it means that word of God is alive. It's quick. And it's powerful. The word of God is powerful.

How powerful is God's word? It says that it's sharper than any two-edged sword, and it pierces even and divides the soul and spirit. And it's a divider of the joints and marrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. That's what God's word is. It's quick.

It's powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It divides, and it cuts away. It cuts away the corruption. It cuts away our own goodness. It cuts away our own understanding, and it reveals unto us the way that leads to heaven.

And it says that it's a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. When we read God's word, and we sit down to read, oh, there are words of comfort. There are so many words of comfort in God's word. In the first pages of the Bible, it promises a Savior. It speaks about those promises throughout God's word.

It speaks in such ways that remind us of the reward that waits for us. It speaks to us of the joy that we can own here in this life. God's word tells us that if we walk in the light as He is in light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. God's word tells us of His kingdom.

His kingdom here upon earth where we can be travelers. We can dwell. And we don't have to be so worried and caught up. You know, when the world rages, we were visiting about this this afternoon. One of the brothers was mentioning that he hates to even look at the news because the news is so depressing.

It brings fear. And I had to agree that for me, it's also that kind of a thing where we get caught up in the everyday worries of this life. And we can see even the darkness that is there. Those people living in sin and where that brings them and what their lives are like. Our flesh, on the other hand, is very attracted to those things.

Our flesh would like to be like the movie stars and the starlets, and our flesh would like to be those kinds of ones that are recognized and known of men. But we have this battle that goes on between our flesh and also the spirit. And the spirit seeks for a place of solace. The spirit seeks for a place of rest. The spirit seeks for a place of comfort.

It seeks for a place of calm, of quiet. And as the shepherd's psalm David writes, how we have been led by those quiet and calming waters of the gospel. We have been able to lay in that green pasture where there is moisture, there's coolness. This is God's kingdom. God's kingdom is that kind of a kingdom where we can, as the psalmist says, when he looks to this, he says the sparrow has found a house and a swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young.

This is God's kingdom. God's kingdom is a place of rest. It is a place of solace. It is a place where even this evening, we have come where we are, where we can be reminded of those quieting waters of the gospel that comfort us. It quietens even a restless heart.

It takes and forgives sin, God's word does. And when our sins are forgiven, we are convicted of no man. We can so simply with childlike faith believe that we are on our way to heaven. You beloved brothers and sisters with me, remember as a little boy or as a little girl, when you received the preaching of the gospel of forgiveness of your sins, what kind of peace and knowledge came into your heart that it is of a surety that I am a child of God. Sometimes I ache for those times of simplicity of our youth, my youth, when there were no questions and no doubts, when my sins were forgiven, that I was on my way to heaven.

As we grow older, sometimes we doubt and even question, is it possible that such a sinner as I might make it to the glory of heaven? But this is what God's word does. It divides. It cuts away. It feeds.

It's alive, and it gives strength to the child of God. And God's word here says also that neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight. All of us are naked, as He says, and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. So we are that kind of individual that is naked. We are exposed.

We might be able to hide something from somebody. We can't hide anything from God, can we? He knows the very contents of our hearts. Brothers and sisters, when you worry and doubt that you are on the way to heaven, when you hear the voice of the good shepherd and your spirit answers and says amen, and you have that hope in your heart that you would believe as that spoken word says.

It's a surety that you're a child of God. When you hear God's word, it's like looking in a mirror. And when you hear it and your spirit says amen, it means simply this, that you're one of God's soul. So then at the end of this text, the author says that seeing then that we have such a high priest that has passed away into the heavens, it is Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our profession.

And he says we have this kind of a high priest that cannot be touched, or we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. As heavy as those temptations have been for you and for me, Jesus also experienced the same, but even greater. He knew of the temptations of all of us, and he carried those temptations to the middle cross of Golgotha. He was victorious.

And we look to him, this kind of a high priest who now is in the glory of heaven with his Father. Look to him, brothers and sisters, for your comfort and your strength. Don't look inwardly. Don't look into your own heart to try to find anything good. There is nothing there.

There is corruption. There is sin. There is doubt. But look to that high priest. Look to Jesus Christ.

He is the good shepherd. He is the one who has paved the way of salvation to the glory of heaven. Look to him. He has provided a way for us that we can make it one day there. He says, so then let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This evening, dear brother and sister, you can come boldly to the throne of grace. And as you find yourself, you can believe that all of your sins are forgiven. Not just some, but all of them are forgiven in Jesus' name and the precious atoning blood. This is why God sent His Son that we wouldn't need to perish, but all of us could believe upon Him. This is His gift for us even on this day of grace.

Is there a better gift? No such gift is better than that which Jesus has done for us. We are His own. And through His shed blood, we will make it to the glory of heaven. Remain believing with confident hearts and minds.

You are one of God's special children. He knows you by name. He's promised in His word to carry you whole. I also, this evening, ask that can I also hear that same gospel for my own doubts and my own sickness? I want to believe just as you brothers and sisters believe.

In Jesus' name, amen. Let us quiet this evening in prayer and benediction. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for the blessings of this day. We thank You for Your word, and we pray, dear Father, that You would keep us now and always as Your own. Strengthen us.

Give us courage. Allow us to take another step toward our final and our eternal destination there with You and Your Son in the glory of heaven. All of this we ask in Jesus' name. And we say the Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face shine upon us and be gracious unto us.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen.