Sermon in Phoenix 03.06.2012

In this kingdom, we know there is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And dear Father, we have enjoyed the blessings of traveling and living in such a place.

In your kingdom, we are reminded and encouraged about the way that leads to eternal life and the glory of heaven. In your kingdom, your word is preached so that we, as sinful, faulty travelers, can be encouraged and uplifted as we journey homeward.

So on this new day, dear Father, and as we gather together around your holy and precious word, we pray that you would be with us, that your Holy Spirit would enlighten us and direct us according to thy holy and righteous will.

Father, we this morning, dear Father, pray for your service blessing, and that you would, through your word, reveal what is the height and the depth, the breadth and the width of your love. And that you would break those crumbs of grace to that degree that the weakest and poorest would be nourished and fed.

You and you alone, dear Father, can look into the hearts of your children, into the hearts of men. And you know, dear Father, of that which we, on this day, need. And so we pray that you would send your word into our midst.

And this morning we also include all of our unspoken thoughts into that prayer that your Son Himself has taught. When we say, 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.

Amen.

This morning is, and this Sunday, this Trinity Sunday, where we remember, of course, the Holy Trinity, which is the Father, who was the Creator, the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Redeemer, and then also the Holy Spirit, which is the Sanctifier.

And the gospel portion for this Sunday is found at the end of the 28th chapter of Matthew. They are the last verses in the gospel according to Matthew. And I will read from the 18th, 19th, and 20th verses.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Amen.

Today, the text and the theme of the text speak of the hidden God. It's quite interesting when we think about this theme, the hidden God, in that God seems to be everywhere.

We have, on this beautiful sunny morning, been able to see with our own eyes the evidence of God's creation and all things that have been created by Him and for Him.

We also know, according to Christian doctrine, that God reveals Himself in many ways, not just in nature. But God reveals Himself in nations of people, in the phases and lives of nations. He also reveals Himself in our individual lives, where we personally have felt God's hand in our lives.

Young children to the oldest ones, we have experienced how God has directed our lives according to His will. He also reveals Himself in our conscience. But God especially reveals Himself through His Word.

But this, I believe, is where, for many, God is hidden. Many people believe, experience, God's revelation in nature. There are many people who marvel, and how can we not marvel, as to how perfectly God has created all things?

It doesn't take us long, if we're in nature, to realize how everything has a purpose. From the smallest little insects and bugs, which feed some birds and animals, and then these birds and animals, in turn, feed a larger or a bigger animal or bird.

And all things are created according to God's perfection. You can see evidence of this both in the air amongst the fowl birds. You can see evidence of this creation on land with the animals. You can see evidence of this in the makeup of our trees and plant life. You can see evidence of this in the rivers and the oceans.

And all people who have eyes can behold and see how wonderful God has created all things.

Many people also have attested to the fact that it is God who has directed the phases of nations. Even the founding fathers of our country have used God's word to establish the laws of the land, of which in our day are being tested.

And we know that there are many who would and have strayed far from the teaching of God's word in enacting laws and so on or trying to enact laws.

Many people have also talked about how God has directed their lives and they recognize that there is a person, a thing, a God that is greater than they.

Many people will also and do believe that the Bible is God's word.

Yet, it brings us, brothers and sisters, to another level this morning, when we know that God has called and revealed to His children, to those whom He has called to be His own, He has opened His word unto them. He has revealed His love to them. He has revealed the instruction of His word and teaching to them.

This is that which God has done. And we as men, we as people, cannot of our own reason or strength, as we study in the catechism, call upon Him or come unto Him. But God has called us through the Spirit, enlightened us, and He is the one who has allowed us this day to believe.

It is He who has called us into His kingdom here upon earth. And for this, this morning, as God's children, we are most thankful that God has called us and chosen us out of the multitudes of this world.

And He revealed unto us His word. And this word is revealed unto us through the power of the Holy Spirit. And it is God's choosing, and it is God's calling, whom He's called.

God's love. And we know that this was given. And this Spirit was entrusted, as we've recently celebrated Pentecost, when the promise of that Holy Spirit was to come.

And that Holy Spirit, as Jesus spoke in His farewell sermon, was going to give understanding and wisdom to all of those to whom God calls.

And that Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus. And that Holy Spirit was going to be the fulfillment of the Trinity.

God had already done His creation work, and He continues to this day. Jesus had been born. He had lived His life. He had revealed the goodness of God in His life. He had called sinners. He had forgiven sinners. He had called those whom He called.

He entrusted to His disciples that which they were to do and to work. But He also knew that He needed to go and return to His Father in order that this Spirit would be sent, that Comforter that would teach in all things.

And in this portion of God's Word that we've read, it speaks of that time in which Jesus had appeared unto His own after His resurrection.

These were, according to Matthew, the last words in which Jesus spoke to His own. And He began and He came and He spake to His disciples saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.

This power was given to Him by His Father. Remember how Jesus says, I and my Father are one.

This teaching and sermon of Jesus was very difficult for those in His day, especially the Pharisees to hear, where Jesus said, I and my Father are one.

They did not believe that. They did not believe that it was possible that Jesus was the Son of God. They thought He was only the Son of a lowly carpenter. They did not recognize Him to be the Lord and Master and Savior of mankind.

But here Jesus says, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.

And then He tells His disciples, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

This mission command that Jesus gave is a very recognizable portion of Scripture. But the depth of this word and the depth of this teaching was not immediately understood by the disciples, nor is the depth of this teaching completely understood by us even in our day.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.

We think of this if we use just these words, teach all nations, we think it's a responsibility to go and what does teaching mean? It means to expound knowledge, it means to explain to someone what you know or what you've learned.

From generation to generation we teach. But it means not only the temporal, everyday teaching, that teaching that you have learned at school, you children, us older ones also learned, it also means the teaching of everyday life, but it means more than this, it is much greater than this, in that it means to go, preach God's word, and make disciples, or call sinners unto repentance, into all four corners of the world.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.

And we today have experienced in the day in which we live the evidence of this teaching, haven't we?

Not only we dedicated Camp Kippa last weekend, and when we're there at Camp Kippa, it's such a time when we can look and we can see of the wonders that God has allowed for his children.

There we have a place that you children can go, youth camps will be just now a few weeks away, and you children can go there, you can learn, you can hear, you can sing, of all of those wonders that God has allowed for his children.

You can learn the mysteries of living faith. You can learn that you are on the way that leads to heaven. And that one day, if you remain believing, your sins forgiven, God will call you and all of his children home.

We will learn about those mysteries and those joys of believing.

This teaching is done and accomplished, not with the wisdom and power of man, but through the power and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

That Spirit reveals and teaches, gives utterance.

But not only is it for this teaching at camps, but it's also for the teaching in the homes. Mothers and fathers teach their little ones the ABCs of living faith.

You teach your children how to obey. You teach them of what God's word instructs as to how we should live our life as believers.

This is the duty and responsibility that God has entrusted to the parents to teach, to feed, to instruct.

But even more than this, go ye and teach all nations.

It means that this word would be preached into all of the nations of the people. And according to God's word, this word will be preached to the uttermost parts of the earth as it speaks in the book of Acts.

And even in God's word as it speaks about the end of time, it says that before the end comes, God's word will go and be preached into all of those areas of this world.

Unto the lost sheep of Israel.

John is written of the good shepherd, of how the shepherd will go and find those lost sheep.

It means that God in his day and in his time will send his word to gather those who seek him, those who need to find and want to find a forgiving father.

Ones who find themselves to be sinners, they are called unto repentance.

This is that which God has entrusted in his day and in our day.

We have experienced this. We have seen this. We have testimony of this.

God willing, there will be one brother, God willing, two brothers, but for now it feels as if it's just going to be the one brother coming this summer from West Africa to come and serve, to come and learn, to come and experience that which God has done here among us.

And when we see and experience in those foreign mission fields, how God has opened and revealed his word to those to whom he has called, to whom he has revealed and awakened in their heart a thirst and a need to hear of that sermon of forgiveness and sins.

This is that which God has done. But he has entrusted that work to be done by sinful men.

Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We don't just teach about God, do we? We also teach about the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, our Lord Jesus Christ.

But we also preach and teach about the power of the Holy Spirit. And that is which completes the Trinity.

Trinity.

But the Holy Spirit perhaps in our day is that which is debated the most. That what does and what is the Holy Spirit? What does it do?

The Holy Spirit unites God's children here upon earth. And the Holy Spirit is that which teaches in the kingdom.

Not only does it teach in the kingdom, it also teaches us individually.

Yesterday, I was following some of the events and as I have continued to follow some of the events of our brothers and sisters there in Finland and some of the battles that there are ongoing and being waged.

There are those who would like to broaden the boundaries of God's kingdom in such a way that they would allow or change the teachings that have been ever of old.

It is according to God's word, brothers and sisters, that there is a kingdom here upon earth, God's kingdom.

And the kingdom is kept in store. It is kept together through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In God's word, it often encourages and instructs that we would endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

To keep the unity of the spirit, it is important because in order that we would find God, in order that we would find his kingdom, God, we must first find his kingdom here upon earth.

God cannot be and has throughout scriptures cannot be found directly.

God's word was revealed through the preaching of the gospel. Not by prayer. Individual prayer can one enter into God's kingdom.

When we look at the apostle Paul, for example, when he was on the road to Damascus, and the Lord appeared to him.

If it was so that a person could come into God's kingdom through prayer, or through some personal experience, wouldn't the apostle Paul have been given this opportunity?

But that is not the grace order at all of God's kingdom, nor of God's word.

But Saul of Tarsus was sent into the city of Damascus. And there he was housed in a house for three days.

And on the third day, Ananias was sent to him. And when Ananias laid his hands on him, and he preached the gospel to him, the scales of unbelief fell from Saul's eyes.

He was called into God's kingdom. But he needed to find God's kingdom here upon earth in order that he would be one of God's own.

And there have been, and there are so many examples of scriptures of how a man comes into God's kingdom through the preaching of the word.

But this is now being debated that is there other ways, and are there other places and other kingdoms in which there are people that are saved.

It is not according to God's word.

The apostle writes in the epistle to the Ephesians, and he wrote to that congregation in Ephesus this way, he says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

And then the apostle says that there is one body, one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.

One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

There is one God. God is not a God of confusion, but God is a God of order and a God of truth.

If God is a God of order and of truth, so also was his son, because they were one, and so also does the spirit teach the same way, that there is one kingdom, there is one faith, there is one hope, there is one baptism.

And this is the God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

And that spirit that joins the hearts of God's children together is manifest or made known by love.

Love.

The first fruit of the spirit is love.

As the apostle writes, that the first fruit of the spirit is love.

And this has been pictured in a very beautiful way.

When we look at a brick building or a block building, there are individual bricks or stones blocks.

And when that wall is complete, the wall is square, rectangular, it has corners, and each of those pieces of that wall are joined together by mortar.

And that mortar joins and connects each one of those pieces seamlessly to make a full picture.

That mortar is the mortar that cements the hearts of God's children together in this way that God's kingdom is then made up by, as the apostle Peter says, as lively stones.

Stones that are alive.

And the mortar that connects the hearts of God's children together is the love of the spirit.

The spirit unites. The spirit gives life.

It is not found in any other place except in God's kingdom.

But those in our day who would like to broaden the borders of God's kingdom are those who would like to minimize the teaching and instruction of the spirit.

They would rather depend on the wisdom and the feelings, the emotions of men.

They ask questions that how can it be in God's kingdom where such and such and such are taught.

It seems to be that the teaching is so narrow minded.

The teaching seems to be so restricting.

There is one teaching and I wonder if it may be that before the end of time God's kingdom will be the only one to stand alone in one matter that has been so prominent even in our day and that is the homosexual lifestyle.

God's word very clearly speaks.

The apostle Paul writes in the book of Romans of this matter and he very clearly defines and explains of this corruption of homosexuality.

He calls it an abomination.

And when we today in this world around us when we preach about the teaching of God's word that is revealed through the Holy Spirit there are those who have spoken openly of this sin as being called warmongers, hate mongers, those who hate people.

But this isn't at all what it means.

But rather God's word is set forth to explain one of course God's will and God's teaching, God's understanding, and it is through his word where it is revealed how we ought to live as God's children.

He gave the law of Moses not for the children, not for the believers, but rather for those unbelieving and that law of Moses awakens, reveals sin to those who are in unbelief.

But this law for those who are on the outside of God's kingdom and who do not want to hear the teaching and sobriety of God's word, they are offended by it.

But there is also in God's word not only this kind of teaching of the law but there is also the teaching of God's grace and forgiveness so that the teaching of the law is for this purpose that it would awaken one to the knowledge of sin.

And so if we preach in God's word that homosexuality is wrong, it is sin, it is an abomination, it is not that we hate that individual but even as God's word says the sinner but he hates sin.

We also would hate sin and want to flee from it and we would also need to speak and preach very openly about what God's word reveals and says about certain things.

We cannot shy away from it.

If we did, we would be as one of some of those angels of those churches of Asia Minor of whom the apostle John wrote in the book of revelations, some who had fled and left their first love.

We need to preach. We need to speak and may God give us that kind of courage and wisdom and understanding to reveal and make his will and word known.

But I think God's kingdom perhaps will stand alone at the end of time.

We have seen where this softening of God's word in the minds and hearts of some has already started to take place and they say, oh it's this way or it's that way.

But we would clearly speak and preach that this kind of lifestyle is sin and sin separates man from God.

And it is not just this matter but there are also other matters in which some of those who would like to broaden the boundaries of God's kingdom have also worked.

And what is the danger, brothers and sisters, if we with our own wisdom and understanding begin to broaden the teaching and the instruction and the borders of God's kingdom?

If we start to do that now, where is the foundation in which we stand?

The security that I have experienced and I'm sure you as well, brothers and sisters, is this that we have the firm foundation of God's word wherein we can stand.

We don't need to stand on the wisdom of man.

The wisdom of man will go all over the place.

It can be blown as the apostle has written it can be blown like the wind blows away chaff.

Our understanding can go all over them many different ways.

But God's word and the Bible is the firm foundation in which we today dwell.

It is a comfortable and a good place wherein we can travel.

It is that which God has allowed for his children.

So not God's kingdom is not dead.

This kind of kingdom that feels to be do's and don'ts and you can do this you can live your life in this way.

There have even been those who have wanted to give to the mothers, to the wives control of their own bodies in such a way that they would even limit or allow the number of children that would be born.

They have used their own mind and rationale to say that you have a mind, you have reason, that you don't need to accept children every year.

But God has given you this kind of mind that you know what's best for you.

That why don't you just accept as many children as you feel necessary.

And these same ones then who have spoken in such a way have said that in that kingdom, that God's kingdom or so-called God's kingdom, they said that they preach in such a way that it keeps the women under thumb and that the mothers in God's kingdom are those kinds of women who are abused.

But how has it been, dear sisters? Has it been that you felt that you needed to live your life in such a way because it was the teaching and compulsion of God's kingdom or the teaching of God's word?

Or rather has it been this that you want to live your life as an obedient and trusting brother or sister in faith?

God's children always recognize and understand that it is God who has given all things.

It is God according to his word that gives life and takes life.

It is God who is the giver and the protector of us his children.

And when we can so simply believe and trust in God's goodness, we take all of our own burdens then and place them, as Jesus says, upon him.

Take my yoke upon me.

Jesus wants us to place all of our cares and all of our trust upon him.

It means that we can believe as simple childlike believers as little children trust in the goodness of their parents, so can we also trust in the goodness of our heavenly Father.

He has promised, brothers and sisters, to care for us both in this life but even more than this in the glory of heaven.

And all he asks of us is that we would be obedient children.

But where does this then come from? Is it something that we can say that it is I or is it something that I have done to be called into God's kingdom or I have chosen to be one of God's own or I have the strength to believe?

It's not that at all but rather it is a God-given gift for those who have denied faith and left and I and I'm not in the place of God and I don't have any way to say who is going to believe and who can believe and who can't believe.

But this is God's choosing.

If we also consider this matter in a few places in scriptures, for sure the apostle writes in Corinthians again about this matter of calling or rather in Ephesians he writes in the first chapter, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath proposed in himself.

It is God who has called us and it is God who has allowed us this grace to believe.

It is a calling, brothers and sisters. It is not for everyone.

This is also according to his word in the book of Romans in the eighth chapter.

He also speaks about this matter of his calling and his choosing.

He calls whom he calls and chooses whom he chooses.

So where does that put us?

It puts us in a humble place of thanks that God has revealed unto us the mysteries of his goodness.

He has called us to be grace beggars in this precious kingdom.

And not only has he called us but he has also promised us eternal life one day in heaven.

But we also, brothers and sisters, before we attain that goal, we live our life in the days today in which God has called us.

And in this text it also speaks of that where we are to go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

So this is the instruction that we've been given to go to teach.

But then very comforting words at the very end, And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

God has not sent us forward. God has not sent us without direction. He has not sent us without comfort, without instruction.

But he has left with us the spirit to direct and to lead in all things.

That into the care in which we have also today been placed.

We have been placed in the care of the good shepherd.

We have been placed into the care of God's kingdom.

And in God's kingdom then there are given all of those necessary tools.

God has given the workers into the kingdom to serve just as the prophets of the Old Testament worked and preached to serve the children.

So also are those kinds of teachers and preachers and prophets in our day that God has given to them knowledge and understanding, wisdom that can help.

Just as Moses was given courage and understanding to lead the children of Israel, so also in our day has God given those kinds of ones who can help us, who can lead us, who can uplift us.

God has set some, as the apostle writes in his epistles, he has set those orders of service and it's for his purpose and it's for his reason.

He is, you know, there have been those who have worried and wondered when we've watched and seen some of the older brothers, older sisters, some of those ones who have been pillars in the congregation for years and they've died and gone on to their eternal rest.

We wonder that now how will we go forward.

But God doesn't take his gifts from his kingdom. He doesn't remove those gifts. He doesn't remove those blessings but rather he divides them among his kingdom, among his children.

And he's divided those gifts and those blessings among his kingdom of God here upon earth today so that we as his children would be comforted and would be strengthened and that we would be protected.

We are little boys and little girls. We are so little compared to what God is but yet God knows that and he sent for us his word and he sent for us his comforter and that spirit to teach and direct in all things.

Haven't we felt in our lives this kind of direction?

Haven't we when we look back been able to see how good God has been for us that he has kept us till this day?

We see the evidence of that.

But now as we go forward it's not always so easy to trust, is it?

It's not always so easy to believe that God who has kept us till this day has promised and will carry us to the end.

But so his word is promised, brothers and sisters, and today we can simply as children trust in the goodness of our father.

He is not a hidden God to us but he has revealed unto us his word, his will, and his direction that leads towards heaven.

And most of all he has left for us the comfort that comes through the preaching of the word, through the preaching of the gospel.

We are on our journey and way towards heaven.

The Holy Spirit gives life to his word and the Holy Spirit gives life to the preaching of the gospel.

And that Holy Spirit today still encourages us and instructs us that today we can believe our sins forgiven in the name and precious blood of Jesus.

This is the core and most central message of his word.

Remain believing your own sins forgiven in the name and precious blood of Jesus.

Believe unto peace and joy and freedom.

Can I also this morning coming before you with my own doubts and my own temptations can I also hear that gospel?

I want to believe with each one of you, brothers and sisters, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let us quiet in closing benediction.

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.

Give us peace in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Till that will.