Sermon in Ishpeming 03.02.2008

Let us thank and pray. Holy and righteous God, our Heavenly Father, we have heeded that call of thy Holy Spirit to come here today to be in the fellowship of thy children and to be in the hearing of thy holy and living word. We ask that thou would bless our services, that we might be comforted and refreshed and strengthened to continue this journey of faith, that according to thy word shall one day conclude in the safety and glory of heaven. Amen.

Dear Father, thou knowest our cares, our trials and temptations, our doubts and fears. We pray unto thee that through thy word thou would comfort us and care for us, that we would not despair here on this journey. Dear Father, we thank thee for all gifts and blessings, those temporal things that we need for this body and life. Thou hast given unto us according to thy abundance and according to our need. And we are mindful of the many blessings that have been given unto us.

We, most importantly, dear Father, thank thee that thou hast given us thy dear Son to suffer and die and to open the way to heaven for us, that we would have hope, that hope of eternal life. We ask, dear Father, that this blessing of thy kingdom, this gift of faith, would be extended unto all of our neighbors and friends, unto our next of kin, those who are shackled by the enemy of the soul in darkness and unbelief. We ask that thou would work through their hearts to open a place of need for thy dear Son and for the forgiveness of sins.

We ask, dear Father, that thou would continue to bless the work of thy kingdom here upon this earth, that wherever are found even one person who seeks for thee, that thou would lead them here to thy kingdom where they might receive that blessing of the forgiveness of sins. Dear Father, in this time of turmoil and distress in this world, we ask that thou would provide for us even those temporal leaders and those that must guide our nation, that they would be true servants here of our country, that they might serve this, the people of the land, and not their own selves.

Dear Father, we pray, even as thy dear Son has taught us, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as 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. We shall read the holy word of God that is recorded for us in the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of St. John, a text that is appointed for this day. We read these words in Jesus' name.

He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life. If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.

Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name.

Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. And the people therefore that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. And others said, An angel spake to him.

Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, shall draw all men unto me. This he said signifying what manner of death he should die. Amen.

The Sunday that we celebrate is called Shove Sunday. And the texts that have been assigned for this Sunday have to do with that theme of the sacrificial way of God's love. And we are near unto that point when we begin to think about Easter and the suffering and the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is so that this transition that we make between the time of Epiphany and the time of Lent causes us to think about even some of the events of the past, especially that time of the prophet Jonah where he went unto the city of Nineveh to preach repentance unto the people of that city and how the people, including the leaders and people in general, were affected by that sermon of repentance that he made. And they made repentance. They became sorrowful for their sins. And we remember even such events as instructive for our life and walk of faith.

I don't know other than what is recorded in the scriptures how Jonah spoke unto the people of that city. But it could very well have been as in more recent times Lestadius spoke unto those who lived in open sin in Lapland and how he preached for over one year before the first person repented and found that they were sinners in need of God's grace.

Here in our text we see two things before us that it speaks about: the endeavor of faith and the following of the Lord Jesus and how in this world one can go one of two directions that as Jesus said, one that would love his life shall lose it or one that would hate his life shall keep it, which we understand only by faith such words and what it means to be a follower of the Lord Jesus.

Of course, the way of the child of God is a way of faith and it is a way of temptation, a way of doubt and fear because we carry these two portions, that of spirit and that of flesh, and even though the spiritual portion desires to be a follower of the Lord Jesus and desires to live according to the word of God and the teachings of our Lord and Savior, yet we carry that burdensome old portion which is inclined always to do that which is evil, to seek after that which is pleasing to the flesh.

So we can say that there have been those that have begun this journey in faith only to disappear from our midst to seek after the things of this world, the temporal joys and pleasures that can be found there, and have forsaken the Lord Jesus Christ and this hope of eternal life.

We would much rather think that when one becomes a child of God that it is forever or for always, but we know that temptations and allurements of this world are always before us as God's children, and these, as Father in Faith Luther even noted, seem to follow our stage in life.

For the young person, the matters of the flesh and the attraction of sexes and so forth can become an issue, and we know that in this world that we live there is much openness of sin and the matter of even sexuality is constantly before our eyes, so those matters of the flesh are very close especially unto our young ones.

But we who are at different stages in life also have our own temptations, our strivings in this life, our cares for the, perhaps we could say, the wealth or prosperity of this life, and then when we are older we have yet other temptations and cares.

So none of us are free ever from doubt and fear and temptation, but they change according to our time in life and our journey.

To point us even on to this train of thought that our life here is only temporal and that we ought to seek after those things that are eternal, those things that will not perish with time, those treasures that will not rust or neither be corrupted by moth and so forth, but those that endure.

And so he has spoken these words that he that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

We are very fortunate in our time that we have the protection of government. We are able to freely gather and confess our faith and hear the word of God proclaimed.

But there were those times in the early New Testament when the believers were tried very heavily, even unto this point that Jesus speaks of here in a literal way, that they were given a choice that either deny your faith or your life will be taken from you.

And unfortunately, there were those that, for the sake of their own life, denied that they knew the Lord Jesus, denied that they were followers of him, that they were believers.

But yet, also many were those that would not give up this very blessed gift of faith and went unto their death even singing and rejoicing that they were counted worthy to give their lives for the sake of their Lord and Savior.

But our text also speaks of this matter that if any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.

Certainly, we would have to say that there was no more faithful servant than the Lord Jesus. No person has ever been upon this earth that has both in willingness and in deed served others, even to that point that he gave his life and he suffered for us.

We know that we are not that way of our own corrupted portion and being. But we are more likely to think in terms of ourselves always and be more self-serving. That comes from the corruption of our flesh and blood.

But the gift of the Spirit within us also teaches us to serve one another, so we experience that conflict, that battle of flesh against spirit even in these matters of serving one another and serving the Lord Jesus.

But if we put it into that perspective, what have we done or what have we sacrificed in the work of the kingdom or in helping one another that could even in a small way compare to that sacrifice that our Lord and Savior has made on our behalf?

We get a hint of it, we can say, in the words of Jesus that we have read: Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour.

We see as if that fleshly portion, that true man coming forth in the words of Jesus where he knew what was before him, he knew what would happen and was soon to come about him, to be rejected of all people, to suffer that scorn and mockery and finally to be put to death.

But he knew that for your sake and my sake that it could not be any other way, that he had come for this very moment, that he would give his life willingly that we might have the hope of eternal life and that heaven would be open unto us.

We recall how even in those hours immediately before his capture and before his crucifixion that he went there with his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane and there prayed three times and it says that he sweated the drops of blood, which does happen even for, or could happen even for us, we could say, as part of mankind under extreme distress and fear.

It has been known that such has happened but it is very rare, of course, but it gives that picture to us of how willing he was to go and do the work of the Father because what was in the balance was salvation of mankind.

If he did not do the will of the Father, then none of us would have the hope of eternal life, heaven would be closed to us and our life, we could say, would be very meaningless.

But there was only one who could do this work, the Lord Jesus, true man and true God, begotten of the Father from eternity.

It was we who were guilty as mankind, it was we who brought upon us that situation where we had fallen through our parents Adam and Eve and through our own lives, we who had fallen away from the word of God and we who deserved that punishment that was demanded of the law, that whosoever should transgress even the least of the commandments was guilty of all.

And there is no forgiveness in the Ten Commandments, there is nothing there that can give life unto us but only through that payment that the Lord Jesus made on our behalf do we have the hope of eternal life.

So he went there for that reason because he loved each of us and gave his life for us and even for them that hated him.

We read also that Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.

The people therefore that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake to him.

Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me but for your sakes.

There were some that heard that voice because we know that it is recorded here in scriptures, but others that were nearby could not discern other than it was a sound of some sort.

They were not able to see the Lord Jesus as the Savior of mankind.

When we think of the life and the works of the Lord Jesus, we remember all of those miracles that he did where the poor and the blind and the lame and so forth were all healed of their illness or their time of destitution in this life, and even Lazarus was raised from the dead, and it brought much notoriety, we could say, to the Lord Jesus.

But in spite of all of these miracles, there were most that did not believe that he was the Son of God who was come for that very purpose to save mankind from their sins.

But there were those that believed, to whom the gift of faith had been given, that saw that here before them was the Son of God, that promised Messiah.

And it is that way even this day where the gift of faith has been given unto us, and it is by that gift that we have the hope of eternal life.

It is by that gift that when the word of God is proclaimed unto us, we receive it into our heart and it strengthens us, and it is a living and effectual word of God that brings comfort and instruction and teaching unto us those things that we need to make this journey of faith that will conclude in the safety and glory of heaven.

So we are very fortunate to have the word of God in our midst, to be the children of God, to be those that live by grace and not by works.

Jesus also said in our text that now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

This he said signifying what death he should die.

One of the Finnish brothers who wrote an explanation even on this very verse 31 of now is the judgment of the world, he actually said that it was a turning point in the history of the world, and certainly it was that.

Although the world would not understand it as such, it was a time that had been prophesied of, a time when the Lord Jesus by his suffering and death and resurrection would both bring judgment upon this world and would overthrow the kingdom of the prince of this world, the enemy of the soul.

When he went unto his death as an innocent and sinless person, and when he went there into the depths of hell for those days and rose again, he did change the world.

The name of Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind even became known from that point on.

But it is for us a very personal matter of faith where he was able to destroy the powers of the enemy of the soul.

Martin Luther even had that kind of comparison or analogy that when Jesus descended into hell, as we confess in the creed, that he of course had that human portion even as we do, and Luther pictured it as this: that his human portion was like a worm and his divine portion was like a hook, like a fisherman's hook that we all are familiar with.

And when it's cast into the water, there is a large fish that will come and, thinking of a free meal or a delicious food to eat, will strike at that bait only to find that in the midst of it was a hook.

Luther used this kind of analogy to describe how when Jesus descended into hell, the enemy of the soul thought that he had gained the victory and only to bite into that divinity of Christ, the power of God, and to be destroyed by that work of salvation that the Lord Jesus did.

So in this way the prince of this world has been cast out by the salvation work of the Lord Jesus, and that work has come into our midst, and we have the power of the gospel in our midst where we are able to proclaim the forgiveness of sins one to another in the name and the blood of the Lord Jesus.

It is effective to drive away the enemy of the soul because we know the word of God testifies that the Satan flees from the word of God.

It is our strength and our power to war against him and his angels and his children and to remain on this pathway that leads unto eternal life.

Jesus spoke of his death which we remember even and especially today at our communion and service. He says if I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me.

In the Old Testament time when the children of God made that journey through the wilderness, we remember how the serpents came into the camp of the children of God and how it was that Moses had to raise up that serpent, that brass serpent, and all who looked upon it were freed from or immune from the bite of those serpents that were in the midst.

It pictures for us how the Lord Jesus took upon him the wrath of the righteous law, the wrath of the heavenly Father, and became sin for us, taking upon him the death of all the world.

But we know that the victory was gained, and because he was pure, because he was sinless, that wrath of the law had no power over him.

And when he was so put to death, we know that even we are drawn unto him, we who are sinful, we who would have no hope in ourselves, we who could not bring anything of merit before the heavenly Father.

We are those even that were drawn unto that grace throne as those who are unworthy and corrupt, for in him we find the hope of eternal life.

We find that he has fulfilled all in our behalf and that the way of heaven is open for us.

So this day we remember his suffering and his death and we drink of his blood and we eat of his flesh in remembrance of that which he has done for us, that he has given his all that we might have hope, that we might have the hope of eternal life.

So dear brothers and sisters, be of good cheer, be comforted even though you may find yourself to be in doubts and fears this day for some reason or feeling your own corruption and weakness.

Perhaps the enemy has wounded you and you have not been able to speak of those matters to anyone yet, but lift up your hearts to believe the forgiveness of all sins and errors of the way in the name and in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus and be free.

And look upon him who has called us this blessing. I wish to hear from my own heart, may I also receive the forgiveness of sins. I promise to believe in Jesus' name. Amen.