Sermon in Seattle 26.04.2009

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, let us quieten this morning in prayer and thanksgiving.

Dear Heavenly Father, we, Thy children, come before Thee yet again this morning and wish to give thanks unto Thee. We thank Thee, dear Father, that this day, this moment, we can own the name of a child of God. That our sins... Our sins are forgiven in the name and blood of the Lord Jesus, Thy dear Son and our Lord. We cannot even begin to thank Thee as we should, dear Father, but hear our thanks this morning. And we would pray even now that Thou would continue to guide and lead us. Give each one of us that strength to continue believing. To continue traveling. Footstep by footstep. Moment by moment. On this way. The way of faith. Which leads one day to Thee and Thy dear Son in the everlasting mansions there in Heaven.

We, Thy children, yearn, dear Father, for that time when we will be united with Thee forever. Forever. But yet, we must continue. We hear journeying in faith and ask strength of Thee. We thank Thee also for the many temporal blessings. For the food which we eat and the places that we live. All of our temporal needs, dear Father, Thou hast so richly cared for. Amen.

Remember this morning also, all those on the outside who are not dwellers in Thy Kingdom. That dear Father, while there is yet time, that that call of grace, that message, that call of grace, that message, Amen. Could through Thy weak children sound forth from Thy kingdom, proclaiming the gospel and the forgiveness of sins in the name and the blood of Jesus, that those on the outside could hear this proclamation and come unto repentance. We even pray on their behalf this morning and also for Thy children. And wherever they are gathered this morning, dear Father, those in sickbeds, those under much trial with sick children, those grieving over the loss of loved ones, give each one of us strength in our various trials, dear Father.

And we yet even this morning would also pray for Thy service blessing, that Thou would open Thy word according to Thy will, that we would be strengthened and comforted through the gospel and fed with those crumbs of grace which Thou seest fit. We ask it all in Jesus' name and yet pray, as He has taught, that saying, 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.

In Jesus' name we will hear this morning from Paul's epistle to the Thessalonians, the fifth chapter, verses 1-11. But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves no purpose. Ye have no need that I write unto you. For the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also ye do. Amen.

In the beginning, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you, you brothers and sisters, from other locations here to our services. Welcome to our services here this morning. And also, before services here this morning, our brothers Tom and John received a call from Togo, from our brother in faith, Emmanuel, who also wished that his greetings of love and God's peace would be shared with us here. So it's with joy that we share those greetings.

This portion of God's peace, God's word we have here, speaks to us about watching in faith. And it is this matter of watching in faith that is always timely and always a good reminder for us as His children. Jesus even, in His Gospels, spoke of this matter of watching. If I could even find, there's many places we know in the Gospels where Jesus spoke of this matter, but there's a portion in Mark maybe that comes to mind.

In the 13th chapter, Jesus' disciples had been asking Him about the end times. And here, in the 13th chapter, in the 3rd and 4th verses, it tells us about this. And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, tell us when these things shall be, and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled.

And so, they were curious, I'm sure sometimes, perhaps you dear brother and sister have maybe thought on these matters as I'm sure all of us have from time to time. And it was no different for these disciples. We see here in Jesus' time, they wondered what would some of these signs of the end times be.

And Jesus said, and Jesus went on to tell them how many things would come to be and still need to come. He speaks, when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled, for such things must needs be, but the end shall not be yet. We know even in our time we see this. Rumors of wars. Our country's been at war with terrorists and such. And this has gone on from the beginning. There's throughout time been wars and rumors of wars. Nations shall rise against nation. Kingdom against kingdom.

But Jesus then also continued here how in the Gospel, must first be published among all nations. Any of these signs have been fulfilled, but not all. And this perhaps is one for sure that how the Gospel must first be published among all nations. And then how though the end will come, the end will come. The end will come. The end will come.

As our text reminds, as the thief in the night. Paul was writing to these believers in Thessalonica. And they had had questions even. They wondered amongst themselves that if someone passed away and were not living when Jesus came the second time, that would there be hope for them? And Paul, through the Holy Spirit, went on to explain how that it would be this way.

Earlier here, even in the fourth chapter in Thessalonica. But I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not. And I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not. And I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not.

And that it wouldn't matter. As long as one was believing, has the testimony of a child of God, they then have this promise. This promise of everlasting life. And this is the central matter. Jesus placed this above everything else when He even on His Sermon on the Mount related that to seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, before all other things.

And so it is, dear brother and sister, that we want to watch in faith, and be ready. Returning to our text here. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child. Those of you who are mothers and you husbands who've been there have seen how it is when that time comes for the little one to be born. Lord, some of the labors may start slowly and others quicker, but when that time comes and those labor pains hit, they are sudden and sharp.

Paul here has this comparison as travail upon a woman with child. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief. Paul was writing to these believers here in his time. And this instruction yet is for us today also, dear brother and sister, that the day should not overtake you as a thief.

Back to that part in Mark where Jesus went on to tell them of all these signs. And towards the end of his discussion there, he told his disciples that the day should not be a day, but of that day and that hour, meaning the last day. Knoweth no man, knoweth not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch, and pray. For ye know not when the time is.

This is good instruction for all of us. And even in our times, we are children of the light. As Paul here reminds, you are all the children of the light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness.

We have this contrast. On the one hand is light. On the other hand would be darkness. Faith versus unbelief. And here, dear brothers and sisters, we are children of the light. Jesus speaks of this even in... or actually it's not Jesus, but John in his epistle later on. We find even those familiar words that we have in our communion, right? Right.

We find that portion here in John. In the first epistle of John, he speaks again of this matter of light. In the first chapter in these verses 4-7 or 5-7, this then is the message which we have heard of Him and declare unto you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Here again we see this. Reminder of how we are children of the light. And it is not of our own power or strength. But through the grace of our Heavenly Father that He has called us, each one of us, personally. And He knows each of you, each one of us as His children, by name. He knows our every thought. He even knows the amount of hairs on our head. And He has loved us so much that He has given us His only begotten Son to die on our behalf. To die on our behalf. To die for our sins and the sins of the whole world. That we could have this hope of Heaven.

And so it is, dear brother and sister, that we want to be obedient. We want to travel as children of the light. We want to watch in faith. And how is it that we watch in faith? Is it not this way that we endeavor to travel, to journey in faith, being obedient to the instruction from God's kingdom? To endeavor traveling, being obedient to the instruction from God's Word. And to endeavor traveling, putting sin away, not letting sin build on the heart and the conscience. Not traveling, living in sin. This is sleeping, as this text here mentions.

Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. As we travel in our place of watching, as young people in school or in the workplace and even college, as parents, mothers raising their children and caring for the house, fathers in the workplace, grandparents and elders, we all know our own trials and our own temptations and how they are close to each one of us. And how we have to battle against these temptations.

You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, and parents. It's close for all of us. But even these, especially the young, these temptations of the world. There, the world has their many places of entertainment. They go to the theaters, to see movies. And they have their music which feeds the flesh. And these things are a temptation even for us as God's children. Especially you young.

It has always been there from times past and even in our time today. But God's Word and the instructions from God's Kingdom doesn't change on these matters. In God's Kingdom, these matters are still seen and understood as sin. And if we travel living in these matters, we are not watching correctly in faith.

But then our insleepiness as the text here exhorts against. Let us not sleep as do others. But let us watch and be sober. There are so many things in our time that pull at us. We carry this flesh. And we are so easily tempted.

Even as we think of this matter as a matter of faith. It is a matter of video games. We had that presentation a couple weeks back. We'll be having a discussion this evening following up. But even here on this matter, it is good that we, as God's children, could freely visit about these. Videos, and we could even video games with the presentation. But videos, and the technology of our time, music, YouTube, all of these are close to all of us.

And we know that even thinking of these matters, I'm reminded of a discussion we had. It was at that time when I was in the church. I was in the church. I'm a couple years back at Father's son camp. We were visiting about the matter of music. But it falls in the same area where our brother from Finland, Petri, those of you that were there probably would remember this.

But we were visiting on this matter. He got up and he grabbed a stick and he drew a line in the dirt there. It would be like here at the pulpit. A line. He had that example that on this one side is that music which is clear and wholesome. And on the far side, over on the other side, is that music which is clearly sinned.

We could say it would be the same for video games and videos. But as we move closer and closer to this line, that boundary isn't black and white. But it is how do we decide what is on one side of the line and what is on the other? Wouldn't it be our prayer, dear brother and sister, that we would pray that we would be far from the line. Stay away from that area in question.

Pray that God would give us that mind and heart that we wouldn't hold these matters so close to us that we would have to push the boundary and be right near that line. For who of us can tell exactly where that line is? But we would want to hear that instruction from God's Kingdom.

We can't make a list on these matters and draw this list. Some of them are very clear and they're easy to categorize as sin. But we cannot make a list trying to list every song, every video, every video game. But that we would pray for this kind of mind and heart. That we would be sober. That we would cleave to the center of God's Kingdom. That faith would be most precious in our hearts.

The enemy of souls uses this area in these matters to do his work. For he knows and wants to cause unrest. He wants to cause division in God's congregation. He knows his time grows short. So he would want it so between brother and sister there would be a time of peace.

But brother and sister there is disagreement in these matters. And to cause division and cause to break the love. But dear brother and sister how do we battle against this? We can pray to our Heavenly Father that He would guide us. That He would lead us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And that each one of us personally can examine our own heart and conscience. And pray that God would give us the strength to put away sin when it comes on our heart and our conscience. That we could travel as free children of God.

And this morning if you find yourself even in these matters falling short. Perhaps even fell and listened to music not acceptable for a child of God. Or seen videos and video games. The Gospel is able to cleanse even these matters. Completely and forever.

Yet this morning you can believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. Believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. And if these matters would still bother your heart and conscience, go and speak to a trusted brother and sister.

Here we see in our text towards the end how he speaks of this matter of comfort yourselves together and edify one another. This is how we edify one another, dear brother and sister. Through the Gospel the forgiveness of sins in the name and the blood of Jesus.

Let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love. And for a helmet the hope of salvation. As God's children this is the hope that we have that one day when our journey ends that we can be united with our Heavenly Father with our Lord Jesus and with all those former saints all those loved ones who have been with us our grandparents and fathers and brothers and sisters who have gone before and who wait there for us.

It pays to believe dear brother and sister. Let us each personally make those new promises that we would hold faith near and dear in our hearts. Amen.

Above all other matters we have a good and a gracious God. Paul even reminds of this how for God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today in our church calendar the theme is of the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd who died for the sins of the entire world. The Good Shepherd who will not even leave the smallest or the weakest one.

Many times dear brother or sister perhaps you find yourself to be the smallest or the weakest one. But you are not the only one who is the weakest one. You are the weakest one. You are the smallest or the poorest of children. But be uplifted yet this morning that your sins are forgiven in the name and the blood of Jesus.

And when we travel in this way this is watching and waiting in faith. And coming here this morning to serve and certainly feel my own sinfulness and many temptations. The enemy is very close even with this matter of music. He would come here to say that how could such words come from your mouth when you are even yet tempted with that matter.

But it is not the words of the servant dear brothers and sisters. The words of the heavenly father. Even yet I wish to hear that gospel for my many sins and doubts. I desire to believe along with you in this way moment by moment footstep by footstep we journey in faith.

It is as we all experience it is not an easy journey and so many times we feel our sinfulness but here in God's kingdom all answers can be found. Here is where that living water bubbles forth endlessly. Overwhelmingly. And never runs dry.

May God keep each one of us as children little children in His kingdom. And as we close here reminded that we edify one another. It is again as we mentioned through visiting about matters of faith.

So often in our lives in our busy times the temporal matters are easy to visit about. But is it always easy to visit about matters of faith? Seems more often we don't. But when we have been able to when we have been able to have our sins have our sins forgiven haven't it been good dear brother and sister?

Also comes to mind even the words of the writer to the Hebrews speaking about gathering together that as we experience all these things of our time matters that come up new techniques new things new things new things new things new things new things new things new things new things new things that come up new technology and so forth.

That we could gather all the more as we see the time approaching. I'm not finding that part here but it was in the letter to the Hebrews where we were reminded to gather all the more as we see the time approaching.

When we can meet and visit about matters of faith concerns of our time when we can visit about them in the light of God's word we can trust dear brother and sister that even here the Comforter the Holy Spirit will continue to lead and to guide and to instruct in His kingdom where we as God's children dwell.

In Jesus name Amen. Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face to 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.