Sermon in Phoenix 27.07.2014

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, let us unite our hearts together in opening prayer and thanksgiving unto our Father who is in heaven.

Dear Lord God Almighty, we thank you, dear God, that thou hast called us together this morning, that we could be gathered here together, united around thy holy and precious word. Lord, we pray, dear Lord, that thou would open our ears this morning, that thou would give this weak servant words that are inspired by the Holy Spirit, that this word could be received in our hearts, that we could be strengthened and uplifted in faith, and that we can continue to endeavor to travel on that straight and narrow path that lead us unto eternal life in heaven.

We thank you, dear Father, for this day of grace that thou hast called us into thy kingdom. We pray, dear Lord, for those who are traveling on the outside of this kingdom, those who have lost their childhood faith. We know, dear Heavenly Father, that thou sent thy only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus, to suffer and die for the sins of the whole world. And we pray, dear Lord, that this gospel message of the forgiveness of sins would be preached according to thy will, and that sinners would be called unto repentance.

We thank you for the many blessings of this life, our homes, our families, our believing travelers in faith. But most of all, dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this gift of faith, and for that love that thou hast shown unto us by giving us thy Son as a holy sacrifice to redeem us from our sins, and to give us strength to endeavor on this road unto eternal life in heaven.

We pray even in that most perfect way that he has taught us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

For our text this Sunday morning, we'll read the gospel text that's recorded for us on the church calendar. From the gospel of St. Mark, chapter 10, verses 17 through 27. And the words are as follows in Jesus' name.

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Defraud not. Honor thy father and mother.

And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, Go thy way. Sell whatsoever thou hast, And give to the poor, And thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross, And follow me.

And he was sad at that saying, And went away grieved, For he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, And saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches Enter into the kingdom of God.

And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, And saith unto them, Children, How hard it is for them, That trust in riches, To enter into the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, Than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

And they were astonished out of measure, Saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, But not with God. For with God all things are possible. Amen. Amen.

The theme for this Sunday is the law of love. This month being July, Many perhaps have had that opportunity To attend summer services There in Minnesota. Certainly, It was a time of uplifting. My wife and I were able to attend those services And certainly came home uplifted. It was good to hear the word of God Spoken by many different brothers. That same word, That same unity, That same understanding and faith. And to be able to speak to other brothers and sisters in faith About this most important matter in our lives.

Today up at Kippa is the confirmation exercise. And I was thinking about that this morning And about that text. And of course, At that confirmation, At that confirmation ceremony, Those young believers will be asked to speak of that Christian doctrine. And one of those matters is this, That question that will be asked is, What is the most important matter in your life?

That most important matter in our life Is to know God And to know Jesus Christ And to endeavor to travel as a child of God. This is the just of this particular text that we have read. That even if we would look back at the beginning of this chapter 10, And particularly the discussion prior to this text. And it is one that we are all very familiar with. Because this is that portion that Jesus speaks in this way. He says, Suffer the little children to come unto me And forbid them not for such is the kingdom of God. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, He shall not enter therein.

Here in our text, We have heard of this man who very excitedly came before Jesus. Perhaps he had seen the many miracles that Jesus performed. He had heard his discussions And understood that he was a man that knew much And was a man of wisdom. And we know that that wisdom came from God.

Jesus, In this way, We see where that man came running And kneeled before the Lord and Savior Jesus And asked him, Good Master, What shall I do That I may inherit eternal life?

First of all, Jesus wanted to make a point with this man. He wanted to make a point that God, Our Father who is in heaven, Is a good and a gracious God. He said it in this way, That why callest thou me good? There is none good, But one, That is God. This is the God of Of Abraham. This is the God That we Trust in and believe in. That we turn to His Holy and precious word.

We understand that the Bible is the Word of God. And that God has Offered Redemption for all Sin-fallen mankind Through His word. We can Perhaps read from the Second book of Or the second epistle To the Corinthians Where it is recorded In this way In chapter 5 Verses 19 To wit that God Was in Christ Reconciling the word Unto Himself Not imputing their Trustpasses unto them And have committed Unto us The word of Reconciliation.

Jesus acknowledged That God Was in Him That He was the Son of God And that the And we know that The Father And the Son And the Holy Spirit Is one And that God Sent Jesus Into this world Not that He would Impute Man's Trustpasses Unto them But rather That He would Commit unto us That Word of Reconciliation That Gospel Of the Forgiveness Of sins.

Yet We Heard How Jesus Spoke Earlier That One Must Become As a Little Child To Enter Into This Kingdom Of God.

Here Upon This Earth We Have Heard Of This Man That Came Forth To Jesus He Came Running And Kneeled Before Him And Jesus Spoke Unto Him Of The Law Of Moses That Law That Was Written In Stone. He Spoke Of Those Various Commandments Of Not Committing Adultery Or Not To Kill Or Not To Steal To Bear False Witness To Defraud Not To Honor Thy Father And Mother.

And We Know That If Anyone Breaks That There Is No One That Could Fulfill These Commandments Yet As Children Of God We Know That Each Of These Matters Is Sin And As A Child Of God We Are Guided By The Holy Spirit Of God In That Way That We Would Want To Refrain From Sin. We Have That Inner Desire In Our Heart To Do What Is Right And According To God's Holy And Precious Word.

Yet Jesus Thought Necessary To Explain To This Man Who I Am Sure Was A Very Learned Man. He Had Probably Learned These Laws It Doesn't Say What He Was If He Was A Pharisee Or What His Religious Affiliation Was But He Did Know This And Jesus Knew That He Knew These Commandments.

And Yet This Man Said To Jesus That Master All These Things Have I Observed From My Youth. Then Jesus Beholding Him Loved Him He Loved Him And Said Unto Him One Thing Thou Lackest Go Thy Way Sell Whatsoever Thou Hast And Give To The Poor And Thou Shalt Have Treasure In Heaven And Come Take Up The Cross And Follow Me.

This Man Had Had Much In His Life He Had He Lacked Nothing In His Mind He And Jesus Looked Into His Heart In This Way For This Man Became Very Sad At The Saying And He Says That He Went Away He Was Grievous That He Was He Was Not Able To Comprehend Or Not Able To Do What Jesus Had Instructed Him. There Was Much There That He Could Not Give Up.

When We Consider Even This Matter We Could Look At The Gospel Of St. Luke In This One Particular Parable And This Is A Parable That We're All Familiar With It's In Chapter 15 And This Is In We'll Look At Verse 13 Of Chapter 15 And This Is The Parable Of That Man Who Whose Son Went Into That Foreign Land.

And It Says In Verse 13 And Not Many Days After The Younger Son Gathered All Together And Took His Journey Into A Far Country And There Wasted His Substance With Righteous Living.

Here We See A Picture Of That Young Man Who Knowingly Left The Kingdom Of God. There Were Things That This Young Man Desired That He Was Tempted By That He Had An Inner Desire For Matters That He Did Not Take Care Of In The Blood Of The Lamb.

And As Such This Young Man Gathered What He Had And He Took This Journey Into That Far Country. We Know That That Far Country Is The World. The World Is A Foreign Land To The Child Of God.

Yet On The Other Hand This Man Had This Other Son And We Know As This Parable Goes That This One That Had Gone Into The Far Country Eventually Realized The Condition That He Was In. There Was Still Grace Offered Unto Him And He Was Able To Return Unto The Father's House.

Yet There Was This Other Son Who Was The Elder Son And In Verse 25 It Reads In This Way Now His Elder Son Was In The Field And As He Came And Drew Nigh To The House He He Heard Music And Dancing And He Called One Of The Servants And Asked What These Things Meant.

And He Said Unto Him Thy Brother Is Come And Thy Father Hath Killed The Fatted Calf Because He Hath Received Him Safe And Sound.

And He Was Angry And Would Not Go In And Therefore Came He Had He Answered His Father And Said Lo These Many Years Do I Serve Thee Neither Transgressed I At Any Time Thy Commandment And Yet Thou Never Gavest Me A Kid That I Might Make Merry With My Friends.

So Here We Had A Situation Where We Had A Young A Man The Elder Son Who Was Jealous Over The Fact That This Son Had Came Back. This Elder Son In Fact Lived In The House Of The Father Yet The Condition Of His Undying Soul Was Not Correct Yet He Remained In The Midst Of That House.

And It Was Revealed Even In In This Speech That In Fact He Was Not Believing Correctly. He Was Still Within Those Fields Of The Father's House God's.

And Even Today As We Endeavor Here In The Midst Of The World We Have Even These Very Same Situations That Can Occur In God's Kingdom.

I Know That Recently I Had The Opportunity To Speak With Two Young Believers Who Have Given Up Their Faith And They Were In This Very Same Condition As That Younger Son Who Left And Went Into A Foreign Land.

I Am Sure That This Younger Son For Some Period Of Time Had Considered Leaving The Father's House. In Fact I Am Sure That He Was Probably Indulging In Sin Of Some Type Yet Tried To Hide This.

Yet I Am Sure That This Younger Son Would Become Was Felt Less And Less Apt To To Be Around The Father Because Of The Sins That He Was Participating In.

But Eventually At Some Point He Made That Decision To Leave The Father's House And Endeavor Into That Foreign Land.

Sin Can Cause One To Leave God's Kingdom Child Someone Who Is Endeavoring In Faith Can Be Tempted By Sin. We Are All We We Have All Been Born With That Inherited Sin In Our Flesh.

These Young Ones Who Are Participating In That Confirmation Exercise Today They Are Confessing Their Faith And The Prayer And The Hope Is That These Young Ones Would Continue To Endeavor In That Faith That Has Been Taught Them Throughout Their Young Lives By Their Families By Their Believing Relatives Through The Services And Many Activities Of God's Kingdom.

Yet We Know That The The World Is Full Of Many Devious Temptations Some Of Them Seem Harmless In The Beginning But As We Begin To Particip In These Activities They Begin To Find A Place In Our Hearts.

And Isn't This How It Is Even Was With This Man Who Came Before The Lord And Savior Jesus. He Was Excited He Felt That There Might Be A Way To Get To Heaven Through Jesus But There Were Matters That Weighed Heavily On His Heart.

There Were Things That He Could Not Give Up In This World. He Could Not Become As A Little Child To Enter Into The Kingdom Of God.

And This Can Also Happen To A Child Of God Here In God's Kingdom That Other Matters In This World Become More Important Than God's Holy And Precious Word.

In The Very First Book Of Psalms It's It's Written Even In This Way And This Is From Verse Two But His Delight Is In The Law Of The Lord And In His Law Doth He Meditate Day And Night.

Isn't This The Correct Way To To Endeavor In Faith Brothers And Sisters? We Know That God's Word Teaches Us To To Pray Unto God For Strength To Endeavor In Faith.

But The Bible Also Even Speaks In This Way That We Would Meditate Upon His Word That This Word Would Be Foremost In Our Lives That We Would Take That Time Out In The Day To To Consider These Words Of Life These Words That Come From Heaven That Are Revealed Unto Us Through The Power Of The Holy Spirit.

When I Even Thought About This Matter Of Prayer And Meditation And How Important This Is In The Life Of The Believer I Thought Back To This These Two Young Believers That I Had Spoken To And They Spoke Of How Meditation Was Important In Their Life.

But There Are Other There Are Other Types Of Meditation In This World. There Is That Type Of Meditation That Is Perhaps Associated With These Far East Religions Meditation That Has One More Concerned About The Inner Self And Somehow Finding Some Inner Peace Through This Meditation And To Speak Of A Mantra When They Meditate.

And We Know That In God's Word When We Speak Of This Matter Of Meditation We Would Want To Meditate On The Word Of God And It Is Not For Self Fulfillment.

The Child Of God Has A Special Peace That The World Does Not Have. It Is The Peace Of God. It Is The Peace Of The Living God.

And We Have That Peace Because We Know That Our Sins Are Forgiven In Heaven. We Believe On The Gospel Of The Forgiveness Of Sins.

But When Sin Begins To Attach And We Don't Take Care Of Those Matters Then God's Word Becomes Darkened And We No Longer See The Joy We No Longer See The Benefit Of Believing.

And Then The World And The Ways Of The World Began To Creep Into Our Hearts And Cause One To Begin To Doubt This Precious Faith.

We Need To Turn To God's Word For It Gives Us All Of The Nourishment And All Of The Wisdom And All Of The Understanding That We Need To Endeavor In Faith.

We Have A Fellowship Here Of Believers A Fellowship That Cannot Be Comprehended By Those On The Outside Of God's Kingdom.

It Is We Have A God Of Love And This Is Even The Topic Of Of Today's Of This Sunday Is That Law Of Love.

Jesus Showed Love Unto This Man That Approached Him. Jesus Could See Into This Man's Heart. He Knew That This Was A Self Righteous Man.

He Knew That This Man Had Endeavored To Fulfill That Law Of God That Law Of Moses Even From His Youth.

But We Know That It Is Impossible For Man To Fulfill This Law. We Know That Even Moses In Handling That Law On Those Tablets Of Stone Was Not Even Able To Hold This Tablet But Rather Dropped It.

And That Is A Picture Of Us Of The Fact Of A Spiritual Picture Of How The One Is Not Able To Fulfill That Law Of God.

But Jesus In His Love And Even As It Says Here It Says Then Jesus Beholding Him Loved Him. He Loves All Sin Fallen Mankind.

And Even Today In This Time That We Are Living His Word Is Even Spoken His Word Is Offered Unto Those On The Outside Of His Kingdom Even Those Prodigal Sons And Daughters Who Have Allowed Sin To Drive Living Faith From Their Hearts.

It Is Still Offered That Grace Is Still Offered Into Those Who Perhaps Lost Their Childhood Faith As They Grew Into That Age Where They Began To Understand Sin.

We Know That And We Have Seen In Our Times How Many In Different Countries Have Been Given That Grace Of Repentance.

We Know And We Understand How This Word Of God Is Able To Move From Person To Person Through The Preaching Of The Word Of Grace.

Jesus After This Man Had Left This Man Who Had Great Possessions He Looked Around About Him He Looked At His Disciples And He Said That How Hardly Shall They That Have Riches Enter Into The Kingdom Of Heaven.

We Know That Jesus Was Speaking Here Primarily Of That Of Those Spiritual Riches Of The Of The Things That A Person Keeps In Their Heart That Prevents Them From Becoming As A Little Child To Enter Into The Kingdom Of God.

In The Book Of Psalms It's Also Written In This Way In Chapter 14 Verse 3 I Can't Find That Particular Oh Wait A Minute In Psalms Chapter 14 Verse 3 It Reads In This Way They Are All Gone Aside They Are All Together Become Filthy There Is None That Doeth Good No Not One.

Here It Very Plainly Reveals Unto Us That There Is Not One Other Than Our Lord And Savior Jesus Who Has Fulfilled That Law.

Jesus Says How Hardly Shall They That Have Riches Enter Into The Kingdom Of God And The Disciples Were Astonished At His Words.

But Jesus Answered Again And Sayeth Unto Them Children How Hard It Is Is It For Them That Trust In Riches To Enter Into The Kingdom Of God.

It Is Easier For A Camel To Go Through The Eye Of A Needle Than For A Rich Man To Enter Into The Kingdom Of God.

We Do Not Want To Trust In The Riches Of This World But Rather We Would Want To Trust In This Word Of God And In His Teachings That Through The Works Of Men It Is Impossible To Gain Salvation.

He Looked Upon His Disciples And Said With Men It Is Impossible But Not With God For With God All Things Are Possible.

We Know Not Who Might Repent During This Day Of Grace. We Know This That God In His Love And His Mercy Has Called Even You Dear Believer Unto His Grace Throne.

And When Each Of Us Consider The Sins Of Our Life The Unworthiness Of Our Sin Corrupted Flesh We Would Have To Agree That Ours Is A God Of Love Ours Is A God Of Mercy.

And As Such We Would Want To Meditate On His Word Both Day And Night.

The Enemy Of The Soul Is Very Busy You Would Like To Deceive The Child Of God In Many Different Ways. There Are The Lust Of The Flesh There Is The Pride Of This Life There Is This These Doubts That Come Upon Us That How Can This One Small Flock Be The Only Group That Can Attain Salvation In Heaven.

But Then When Our Sins Are Cleansed Through The Preaching Of The Gospel When We Are Able To Hear God's Word We Take This Word Of God As It Is Revealed Unto Us That There Is One Small Flock Here On This Earth.

There Is One Kingdom Of God Where There Is One Understanding Where We Are Unified Through Christ In The Bonds Of Christian Love And Where We Have That Peace Of God That Surpasses All Wisdom And Understanding.

Here Upon This Earth There Are Many Different Activities In This World That The Child Of God Can Participate In And Keep Faith And A Good Conscience.

But We Know That When A Child Of God Is Believing Correctly That This Holy Spirit Does Teach Us And Guide Us And When We Fall Into Sin That Spirit Will Also Give Us That Strength To Speak of That Matter That Is On Our Hearts.

It Is Not Always Easy Our Flesh Has Much Pride Our Flesh Would Want To Keep These Secrets Buried And And Not Be Brought Into The Light Of God's Word But Rather The Devil Would Want Us To To Hide These Matters.

But Dear Child Child Of God Be Encouraged Even Today To Believe And Lift Up Your Hearts And Believe That Gospel That You Can Believe All Of Your Sins Doubts And Temptations Forgiven And Washed Away In Jesus Precious Name And Atonement Blood.

No Matter What The Sin Is That You Have Fallen Into Whatever That Temptation Is That That You Struggle With Perhaps Even Daily Those Many Doubts That Might Come Upon You Regarding Many Different Things That The Enemy Would Wish To Deceive Us With.

Didn't He Try To Plant Doubts In The Mind Of Eve In That Garden Of Eden? We Know That He Succeeded In Planting Those Doubts Yet The Lord And Savior Jesus Overcame That Serpent And Adam And Eve Were Able To Believe And It Was Counted Unto Them For Righteousness.

This Is That Same Righteousness That We Have Here In This Kingdom Of God. It's That Righteousness Of Our Lord And Savior Jesus Christ.

We Can Sit Here Today And We Can Believe That We Are Cleansed In The Blood Of The Lamb That We Have That White Robe Of The Lamb.

And Our Prayer Unto The Heavenly Father Would Be That We Could Continue To Endeavor In That Way Keeping Faith In A Good Conscience Until We Can Be Received Up In Glory.

This Is The Joy That We Have As A Child Of God Knowing That Our Sins Are Forgiven And That Our Names Are Written In That Book Of Life In Heaven.

This Is That Journey That We Are Endeavoring To And Even For My Own Many Sins And Doubts And Temptations In Coming Here This Morning I Also Wish To Believe My Sins Get Forgiven Can I Yet Believe I Promise To Believe With You Dear Brothers And Sisters In Faith.

We Have A Good And A Gracious God One Who Has Promised To Keep Us As A Child Of God As We Endeavor In Living Faith In Jesus Precious Name. Amen.

Let Us Unite Our Hearts Together In Closing Prayer And Benediction.

Dear Heavenly Father We Thank You Again For Allowing Us To Gather Around Thy Holy And Precious Word. Continue Dear Father To Bless Us Continue To Allow Us To Endeavor In Faith.

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.

God