Sermon in Ishpeming 17.05.2007

Dear Heavenly Father, we thy children have gathered here this beautiful spring evening to these Ascension Day services. We ask that service blessing of thee that thou would give us of thy holy and precious word, that which we need to continue this journey of faith. We ask that thou would bring near unto us that word that we might be nursed and comforted by, that we might receive instruction by, that our journey towards that homeland shore would be able to conclude in safety and in the glory of heaven.

Dear Father, especially today, we remember that resurrection victory and the ascent of our Lord and Savior into heaven, who has gone before us and opened the way that we might follow after him. And one day be together with all the saints of God there before the throne of thy dear Son.

Dear Father, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest our thoughts and the intent of our heart. Thou knowest the cares that we have carried with us to these services. We ask that through this living and precious word that thy Son would draw near unto us and we would be able to again be warmed in our hearts by that love that has been extended unto us and all people.

Dear Father, thou knowest our thoughts and the thanksgiving unto thee for all temporal blessings that thou hast given us. Thou hast cared for us in all matters. And we ask that thou would bless the work of thy kingdom, that this good message of the gospel, the message of peace and forgiveness, would yet be able to find in this world those that seek for a gracious God. Bless our land.

And 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 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.

Dear brothers and sisters, on this Ascension Day, we shall read the appointed gospel text, which is recorded for us in the gospel of St. Mark, the 16th chapter, verses 14 through 20. We read these words in Jesus' name.

Afterward he appeared unto the eleven, as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. Amen.

The writer of the gospel, Mark, has given us a brief summary in this appointed text of those days from the resurrection of Jesus from the dead through his ascension into heaven, and a little bit about the work of God's kingdom that continued and continued from that point or started from that point and has continued until this time.

I was thinking of this text and this summary that Mark has written, and I recalled that Mark was not an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he had written these words most likely based on that testimony that was given to him by the apostle Peter so that the early Christian church used to refer to this gospel as the memoirs of Peter. What Peter had recalled of these many events that surround the work of our Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry and his winning of salvation for us.

So he wrote that which Peter had described to him either somewhat before Peter had passed away or it is thought shortly after even Peter had passed away is when Mark wrote these recollections of Peter. Peter but they are part of those three gospels that are sometimes called the synoptic gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke and we find in these gospels very much overlap we could say where they wrote of the grace work of our Lord and Jesus from that point of view that or perspective that they were in yet we know that with the power of the Holy Spirit who is really the author of all scripture even though it is written by the hand of man it has been inspired by the Spirit of God and has been put down in that way that has been determined by the Heavenly Father for our benefit.

So we read in these few short verses of that first evening of the day of resurrection when Jesus appeared that first time unto his own and we read the mission command that Jesus gave unto his own and even of the baptismal command and of the signs and wonders that would accompany the preaching of the gospel and how it would be that those that preached the gospel could be distinguished from others that preached in some way.

And then our text concluded with that part where the disciples were able to be first hand witnesses of the ascension of Jesus into heaven of which if we read the account of Luke and the first chapter of Acts we would find that there is much more detail in that part of the scripture as to what they saw and what they heard when between that time or when Jesus had arisen from the dead and the sisters Mary and so forth had gone to the grave to the sepulcher found that it was empty and then had met the Lord Jesus as they departed and he revealed himself unto them that they brought this good news back to the disciples who even this chapter that we have read part of relates that that they were in mourning and they were in weeping for what had happened unto the Lord Jesus and they brought this message that he has arisen and they did not believe that this was true.

And we recall even in one of the narrations so Peter had ran some kind of race with John to the sepulcher and to look to see for themselves that was it true that he was gone and Jesus appeared also unto two of the disciples as they walked along the way to Emmaus and they did not recognize him immediately but Mark picks up at that point that the disciples are gathered on the evening of resurrection that first resurrection day behind the doors for fear of the Jews and when he appeared unto them of course he gave that the keys of the kingdom and according to Mark here he even scolded them because they did not believe that report of his resurrection that was given by the women who had gone to prepare his body.

And we get that kind of picture from this how the disciples were very much as we are where we carry these portions of clay and portions of spirit where we are slow to believe and quick to doubt and faith seems to be so difficult at times we would want to see for ourselves even as the disciples wanted to see was that grave really empty had he really arisen and they did not want to accept the word of the other believers of that time and that has not changed for the generations that have happened the generations of believers since that time and this time that we are doubters and we are fearful and even when the good news of the gospel is brought unto us for our sins and our doubts we often times can be doubtful but could it be that but it is simple preaching of the gospel of the forgiveness of sins in the name and blood of Jesus that those sins that have overtaken me were washed away and are now forgotten by God himself.

And so we struggle with these portions the portion of clay and that spirit of God that has been given unto us as a gift the disciples began their mission work that has continued until this time with those kind of doubts and fears and those kind of misgivings we could say but yet from that small group we could say this message of the gospel has spread throughout all the world has found those troubled with conscience those who were seeking for a gracious God has found them throughout all the generations and even now until this day it is still the mission command of the kingdom of God to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature as it is said in the words of Jesus the command has not changed and as we so often remind ourselves that God still has a purpose for his kingdom here upon earth for there are yet those that will come to believe and be partakers with us of this holy calling.

So we go forth and preach this gospel which apostle Paul even said that it has pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save some so that we preach this timeless gospel this message of salvation which must not change and cannot change to each generation and sometimes I know as as speakers often we are we we wonder what more could be said and has not all been said that could be said but yet as travelers individual travelers in God's kingdom even we that serve the kingdom of God have need to hear that gospel for our own part and to live of that gospel.

And so the children of God as a whole never become tired of being comforted by that comfort which is found in the word of God in the central message of the gospel the forgiveness of sins.

At this time that we live we live in a seems like a very dark time a time of much anxiety even on the global scene and much turmoil and much hatred and even much hatred towards children is found in the world today and it is distressing and the enemy of the soul is very hard at work to try and sway any of us older or younger but I think it's fair to say that especially you dear young brothers and sisters have many temptations many things that you must face that even your parents did not have to face in such intensity and magnitude as you do with the matters of love of this world and the things of this flesh where it seems as though anything and everything goes, especially in our nation in this time.

Any manner of fleshy desire, it seems as though the world feels that it is a right of a citizen of our land, or an individual right to live as you wish. But we know that the Word of God has taught us that we live by the Word as that standard by which all things must be compared, that measuring stick that we would go back and compare things to. And we must search the Word of God, and we must be familiar with the Word of God, as that which does not change, and that which is light, and that which will lead us safely unto the destination.

So it is an age-old message that we preach here in the Kingdom of God. It is not something new or something different. But the older ones, if they gave their own testimony even this evening of all their walk of faith, they would have to say that it has been by the grace of God that they are still with the children of God, and that it has been the power of the gospel that has been able to sustain and uplift and to give strength to continue this journey.

This gospel that we preach, we do so in the name of Jesus Christ, not by our own will, as Apostle Paul again to the Romans says, that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by and through the Word. And how shall they hear, except they have a preacher? And how shall he preach, except he be sent? And here in this mission command of Christ, we find that he has given that commissioning, that go ye unto all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

We know that by creature it means not the animals, but the mankind whom God has created and set upon this earth. And so that is why the kingdom of God is still here upon earth, is to preach that gospel unto the wayward traveler, unto the child of God who has need to hear those assurances of the living Word of God, that they are still on that path, and that leads them to life eternal, and that they still can and have permission to believe all sins forgiven.

Here, Mark has found it necessary to record that he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. Those of our young people who study this in confirmation, they know already that there is much wisdom found in these words, that salvation is based upon faith and upon believing. He that does not believe is damned. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.

Baptism has been, we could say, the downfall of some, and even on the scope of major religions, there are some that put such emphasis that one is saved because they are baptized. And yet here, Jesus' words say that one is saved may not be baptized, but if they believe, they are saved. Baptism is that symbol, that covenant or symbol of the covenant that has been made between God and man.

Most of, probably all of us here this evening have been baptized as infants, and we have not any recollection that we were baptized, but we have had those that were witnesses to it, and perhaps we even have our baptismal card that says that on such and such a date that we were brought into this covenant by name, and we were so blessed as in this way.

We sometimes struggle even with this matter of how to understand what does it mean. But we know in the matter of marriage, if we use that as an example, that when man and woman are married, they most often they exchange a ring, and that ring is a symbol of that promise that they made one to another, and they wear that ring on their finger if possible. And that ring is not the marriage, but it is a symbol of the marriage.

And that kind of comparison even is present with baptism. Baptism is not the covenant, but this symbol or sign of the covenant that we have with God, where we make those promises to deaden the old portion that we carry, which is symbolized in the submerging of the child or the putting of water over the child's head to symbolize how daily we take and deaden or fight against this portion of clay and corruption that we have, these tendencies to do evil that are always with us, even as the children of God.

But this baptism, we could say that we have received through the Holy Spirit is such that the Holy Spirit as our home teacher, as that teacher that goes with us wherever we go, teaches us to deaden this old portion or, as Paul wrote to the Romans, to mortify or to kill this old portion, the passions and the evilness that wants to come forth from this flesh and blood that we carry.

This is part of the life of a child of God. And we have those temptations that are in the world and have been in the world. One that comes to mind for some reason is that of the worldly music. If we struggle with that as often or sometimes it has happened the child of God will struggle with the temptation of listening to music, that music has that effect of arousing our old portion or portion of clay to its levels of lust and seeking of fulfillment and so forth.

Same as things as movies or televisions or many kinds of DVDs and other things that are part of our place of watching it. It tries to cultivate the deep passions that are part of our flesh and blood. And in this way we could say to war against that which the spirit is trying to do to deaden or to control or to govern those same passions.

So that is why in our journey of faith we often hear those warnings against such matters. Warnings against putting ourselves in a position where flesh and blood being as weak as it is, tempted as it is, will most likely fall into name sins and matters which grieve the heart and maybe even put scars upon the journey of life that one must live with and put a cross upon someone that even though sins are forgiven that one must then go through life remembering those particular instances where maybe there is that thought that comes to mind that I wish that I would have been obedient to the word of God I wish that I would have listened to what the congregation had taught unto me.

So we preach this ageless proclamation of God's word. I was and it's come to mind many many times over the last six months or so when I've been able to read more even about the life of the former believers of former times as they came out of the or into the New Testament early morning hours as we picture it of what they faced as the children of God.

And I was very amazed that they faced much the same as we face today almost identical in many ways for the young there was the matters of sexuality and the matters of cosmetics and matters of earrings and there was even abortion was very much spoken about in the early church which was much a surprise to myself that even such a thing was technically possible 2,000 years ago but it was.

And many worried about their children going to the theaters there was not the kind of theater exactly as we have today where we think of a movie house but the kind of Greek theater where out in the open spaces there was the acting and so forth and so on.

So there are many different we could say name matters that have not really changed much over time but that is yet life in the kingdom that these type of things seek to ensnare the heart and lead one away from that promise of eternal life and cause one to fall away from being a follower of the Lord Jesus.

Here also in our text we read that and these signs shall follow them that believe in my name shall they cast out devils and they shall speak with new tongues. We know in the time of Jesus that there were many miracles that Jesus performed that where people were overcome by some kind of devil or spirit in such a way that it was obvious to all around that they would throw themselves into the fire or seek in some way to harm themselves and so forth.

And when Jesus was able to heal them these outward signs disappeared and they were also found to be then the children of God who had received that gift of the spirit in their heart so that life began anew both in the spiritual and in the outward sense.

And Jesus said that in his name that these signs would follow that they shall cast out devils and speak with new tongues and so in our time it is so that power of the gospel is so so all powerful over sin that those that have been the captives of the enemy of the soul have been released from his bondage by the proclamation of all sins forgiven in the name and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus.

When we preach to one another the gospel we are preaching that word which the spirit has made alive which has been able to turn entire lives around and set the feet on a path that was on its way to destruction and to eternal damnation to change directions and to travel that pathway of a child of God.

That is the power of the gospel and the power that is in our midst may it be that we always use it abundantly and not sparingly in our homes and in our gatherings and even dear young children of God I would especially want to give this kind of advice or admonition to preach the gospel one to another that none of you would fall short neither none of us that are older but that through the power of the gospel of the forgiveness of sins strength is gained and courage to continue this path that leads unto life eternal.

Other signs were given they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Certainly even in the outward way these matters happened especially in the beginning of the New Testament time and they happened even in our time perhaps more in an invisible way where the protective hand of God has been able to shield the individual child of God from those deadly circumstances in which they have to live or work or so forth and they are able to escape from the arrows of the enemy of the soul because God uses his protective hand to keep each of us from danger.

Jesus spoke these words that they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. The apostle James wrote very similar words when he wrote his epistle and said in that way as anyone sick let them call for the elders of the church let them lay hands upon him that speaks of that caretaking that we have that soul care one with another and even on a broader scale in the midst of the congregation.

But the end result is this that by the preaching of the gospel sins are forgiven washed away and one who has been ill has been made well by that great physician.

So then dear brothers and sisters we have reached that end of the text where it says so then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. The disciples were able to be witnesses of this event of the Lord Jesus leaving the mission command to continue the work of the kingdom and also being able to see with their own eyes that Jesus arose into heaven there to go and prepare a place for each of us for the children of God.

And of course many would scoff in our time that how could this be possible how could one rise into heaven and so forth and with our carnal minds we could not comprehend such a thing happening but with God all things are possible and this sign was given unto the disciples that they have written throughout their writings how they were witnesses of this how he was taken from them and went up into heaven with that promise that in the same way that he went that he will again return and receive each of us all the children of God into that safety of heaven.

So that is why dear brothers and sisters it pays to believe it pays to continue in this kingdom of God and continue towards that mark of life eternal for even a little bit of living faith is not in vain that faith which may seem to be so little in your own heart and as you perhaps feel yourself before the light of the word you find yourself to be a great doubter of little faith and wonder as to your own lot if you will safely reach the destination.

But dear brother and sister even that tiniest portion of living faith is sufficient to carry you onto the destination the same one who has safely brought you until this day will protect and keep you until the end of your journey and we know that the kingdom of God is the kingdom of the poor and the weak and unto the poor the gospel is preached.

Dear brothers and sisters you may uplift your hearts to believe the forgiveness of all sins and errors of the way be assured of this for it is in the name of the Lord Jesus that we preach this gospel that has carried many travelers unto the destination.

The disciples after Jesus had risen into heaven says that they went forth and preached everywhere and the Lord working with them confirming the word with signs following so the New Testament time had begun with the words of our text and we go on preaching the gospel even until this time and God through his spirit goes on helping guide the work of the kingdom to seek and to find and to comfort those who would believe upon the Lord Jesus.

So be assured dear friends and faith on this ascension day that the doors of heaven have been opened for each of you and for me. I desire to hear that gospel for my own part may you bless me with the forgiveness of sins I promise to believe Jesus name Amen.

Let us unite our hearts into the 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 and give us peace in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.