Sermon in Ishpeming 17.06.2012

Let us begin our services with thanksgiving and prayer. We pray in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Dear Heavenly Father, we ask for that service blessing that this evening you would be with us present through thy Spirit, that you would put thy word into the mouth of thy poor and weak servant, that we might understand and be able to apply that which you would give unto us through thy holy and precious word.

Dear Father, we are weak, we are poor, we are thy grazed children. We ask that we would be able to be comforted with that comfort that is found in the gospel, the gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

Dear Father, we raise our hearts also in thanksgiving that thou hast cared for us in all the temporal matters. Thou hast given us house and home. Thou hast given a nation to live in. And many other matters that are needful for this life and for this body. These we raise our hearts in thanksgiving unto thee for.

Most of all, dear Father, we thank thee that thou hast given us the gift of faith and the hope of eternal life.

Even now, our feet are upon thee. For balming in time through thy hand shall those pure and in faith are. Oh plenty of gracious grace, the grace of God, the grace of your Son, and grace of the Father, as we forgive those who have trespassed 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.

We shall read a few words from the 12th chapter of the book of Hebrews. Verses 1 through 6. Verses that have been appointed to be read for this third Sunday after Pentecost. We read in Jesus' name.

Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

He hath not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

And he hath forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.

For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Amen.

The text for this Sunday speaks about the call into God's kingdom. And later on this evening we will hear a presentation about the work of God's kingdom in our time. So we have set aside this evening for that purpose, when we can consider how it is that we go about the work of God's kingdom.

But this text also is appointed for this Sunday as mentioned. And I one time read that the background for the book of Hebrews is something like this: that the Hebrew or Jewish Christians of that early time of the New Testament were severely persecuted.

Most of them lived in Jerusalem at that time where the command, according to the command of Jesus, that this gospel would be preached beginning in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and then to the other most parts of the world.

But many of them were becoming discouraged in their faith, together with those external persecutions that they were faced with.

And if we had time to study and look more closely at this entire letter, we would find that there are many warnings that are found here about the matter of giving up of faith or we could say the warning not to give up faith but to remain in faith.

And such a message is very familiar to us. It is not something that only pertains to the gospel. It pertains to that time of severe persecution.

But we in our time are often reminded that it pays to believe. It pays to continue in faith and to put one foot ahead of another and make this journey of faith that we have the promise of God's word that it will conclude in the safety of heaven.

The 11th chapter of this same epistle contains the words that are written immediately before the text that we just read.

And that chapter is, I'm sure, quite familiar to most of us where the writer names many people who have journeyed in faith such as Abel and Enoch and Noah, Abraham and Moses and so on and so forth, that they all faced adversity of one kind or another.

But they journeyed by faith and they made the decisions of their life based upon that living faith which they had in their heart.

And they looked too upon the fact this promise of eternal life. They had their eyes of faith fixed upon that homeland shore, the same even as we do.

So the writer says then that wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.

He is referring to those that had gone before as well as even those that lived yet unto the time of the Hebrews, that let us look upon that cloud of witnesses or that group of people we could say or those believers and think about their journey in faith and how God protected them.

And in the midst of adversity and trial they still wanted to believe and they still wanted to continue.

So they are good examples in this way of how God is gracious, how he helps the weak and the poor to make this journey and to reach the destination of the world and to reach the destination of life eternal.

It isn't the strong and the wise but the weak and the poor that trust in the gospel of reconciliation.

So he says that also that let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

We know in our journey of faith that we oftentimes are doubting and fearful. Daily cares weigh upon us, even sin attaches at times, and these all work together to cloud that vision of life eternal that has been promised to us and makes the journey slow.

Even as many times we recall in the services of God's kingdom that especially the weight of sin is such that our footsteps become ever so heavy and it's become so difficult to go forward or to believe this gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

But we are encouraged both with sin and with the doubts and fears of adversity that we can lay them aside.

Of course sin is laid aside by that means and way that we go onto the throne of grace. We go onto trusted brothers or sisters and we go onto the throne of grace and there we have courage given of God and there we have that comfort that we can speak of whatever it is that has occurred, the wounds of sin, the defeats that have occurred.

And no one is going to think that we are in some way a lesser of a believer or unfit to be a believer, but we are rather when we speak of the way and the journey and we want to hear that gospel even for named sin what do we find?

We find that our brother or sister in faith is overjoyed to preach unto us that freeing gospel with the words that brother or sister believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and please us and please us to pray.

That is what sustains and keeps us. It is the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believes.

Paul here compares this journey to a race. He says let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

And I'm not sure why he used this to say that that is such a comparison. In one sense, we know that we are not in competition to get to heaven, that there is certainly plenty of room in heaven for each and every one of us.

But for those that are athletes and have to be trained and conditioned and so forth, the races nevertheless can be difficult.

And so it pictures that for us too, that our journey of faith is not always so easy.

There is no guarantee that there won't be temptations or that there won't be doubts and fears and there won't be failures.

But we have the throne of grace that has been set into our midst where we are able to receive the forgiveness of sins for whatever may have beset us.

And we have this grace gift of confession that we can, even by name, make mention of that which has brought a wound upon the heart.

It is God's gift to us. We are saved by faith, but confession is not a gift. It is also a grace gift that we can hear for that very matter, that too is forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

The writer wants us to remember to look upon Jesus as he so states that looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, for the joy that was before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We so often as human beings, as corrupt in our own selves, and so weak in faith, we can look into our own hearts and begin to search what is the reason of salvation that I have? What is the reason that I should think that I will be able to make it to heaven?

And we find in our own hearts only darkness and corruption.

So the writer says, Look upon the Lord Jesus, the author and the finisher of faith. Look upon him. He has won the victory. He has paid for the sins.

And we as corrupt, we as sinful, yet are acceptable before God by that grace work which Jesus has done.

He did this work in such a way that he had great temptations and great adversity.

The preaching of the gospel was not received by everyone gladly or with joy. It caused offense.

But nevertheless, he went to do this work with joy and with that knowledge that we would then be able to follow him and be acceptable before God by the righteousness of faith.

And that is the reason why we are here today.

But there were those, as the writer describes, the contradiction of sinners against themselves, those that did not want to hear this message, those that wanted to retain and keep what they had, their own righteousness or their own way of life.

But yet he, nevertheless, he went forth to do this work.

But here we see an exhortation to the Hebrew believers that lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds, that we would find strength through the life of our Lord Jesus, through the gospel, and would not become wearied on this journey through the many things that can slow our life of faith down.

As we mentioned in the beginning, the Hebrews suffered physically and publicly for their faith.

And many of them began to think that maybe it would be better to give up faith.

It would be easier to journey in this life than to confess the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Such temptations can fall upon us even in our time, especially upon the youth, that it would be so much easier to travel in this world than fight the warfare against sin.

So much easier than confessing our faith by our words or by our life.

But yet, dear brothers and sisters, great is the reward that awaits the children of God.

Those that are faithful unto the Lord Jesus Christ shall one day be able to lay down the staff of faith and be received into the glory of heaven.

Then all the cares of this life will vanish away.

We won't remember what was here or what we suffered, but we shall know Him even as He knows us. Amen.

The writer also says in this way, and ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children.

In other words, in the Hebrew life, there was that kind of written exhortation or teaching that my son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.

For whom the Lord loves, loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

So when we are faced with difficulties and adversities, it does not mean that God has abandoned us.

It does not mean that God is angry with us.

But He does allow us to face such things, these chastenings, that come upon us, and He does it to help us in our life of faith.

So the Hebrews needed such an encouragement in that time that they lived, that they would not begin to think that because they were tried, because they were persecuted, it was because they were the enemies of God.

But rather, God allowed such to happen.

So in our time also, dear brothers and sisters, we want to remember that when we are faced with adversity, it is kind of like that song that we sing, Thank you, Father, for the roses, and for those sharp pickers that are contained on the side of the road, the pickers that are contained on the stems of the roses.

And remember that God is with us each day until the end of this life and promises to care and to keep us.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, be encouraged to continue in this begun faith.

Lay hold upon these grace promises of God.

Make new promises to believe, even as you would find yourself this evening and listening to the service that you can, and even in the silence of your mind and heart, you can make those promises to believe again the gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

And you can believe unto peace, freedom, and unto joy.

I desire to hear this gospel for my own part, for I have need, the same as you have, to be strengthened with the power of the gospel, that you and I might be able to safely reach the destination and the glory of heaven's shore, and ask that may I believe. I promise to believe. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Let us unite our hearts into the 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 and give us peace.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.