The Cornerstone of Christ's Sermons

“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 4:17 AV)

Much is preached in our pulpits today.  Everything from encouragement for the weary to advice on raising a family.  The Bible has much to say regarding our life on earth.  Yet none of it matters unless there is repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.  What makes this statement so powerful is the location of its appearance.  Matthew felt it necessary to inform us that Jesus made a priority of repentance and faith before He preached the Sermon on the Mount.  The first sermon Israel heard before the Messiah was presented was on repentance.  It amazes me how much sin and repentance are neglected in our pulpits today.  People want to know advice on relationships, direction of life, or financial responsibility.  They want to know how to have a better marriage, information on prophetical events, or some tidbit that they have never heard before.  YouTube apologetics is all the rage.  Our younger generation what to debate metaphysics or what they consider the deeper things of God.  Yet no one speaks of sin and repentance.  Never before in the history of mankind have we had so much information at our fingertips.  If I hear one more argument on the Nephilim, I think I will have a come-apart!

The world looks upon the church as a discredited group of quacks because we have lost the moral credibility to preach the gospel.  Repentance is just as much for the child of God as it is the lost.  Just because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and LORD does not mean repentance has been completed.  Not at all! It has just begun.  As a preacher, we don’t like the response to this message.  We have had several visitors as of late, and the LORD has led me to preach heavily on sin, hell, repentance, redemption, forgiveness, and heaven.  It is amazing how soon they leave.  They come for a few weeks, then you never hear from them again.  This is not new.  This happened when Jesus preached, too.  In John chapter six, he lost hundreds of followers because he dared to preach the truth.

We would be unethical to say the least, dishonest and worthless to say the most, if we neglected the ministry of repentance and faith.  Before Jesus taught of comfort; before He healed a crippled body; before He fed a hungry crowd; He preached repentance and faith toward God.  The Son of God made it is top priority to reveal the fallen and wicked nature of mankind to a planet that didn’t want to hear about it.  The Son of God could have drawn a crowd and kept that same crowd if He fed them, healed them, encouraged them, and never spoke of their wickedness.  Yet it is the sin issue that is our greatest problem.  Our bodies will fail.  We will spend an eternity somewhere.  God created us to know Him and love Him forever.  This is impossible unless there is repentance from sin, which so deeply offends Him.  The truth of repentance from sin and faith toward God as the cornerstone of Christ’s ministry cannot be lost.  The Sermon on the Mount was a great sermon.  Much encouragement and instruction.  The LORD’s prayer is a great prayer to study.  But unless there is repentance from sin and faith toward God, all of it matters not.  Repentance from sin and faith toward God are the beginning.  It is the cornerstone upon which all other truths rest.

Delight to Distain - How?

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Mal 3:1 AV)

This prophecy clearly speaks of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.  The messenger who prepares the way is John.  For several months, he preached the coming of the Messiah.  John preached preparation through repentance manifested by baptism in the River Jordan.  He preached that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham and David.  Through the seed of God and mankind, God was made in the likeness of man.  When Jesus came to be baptized by John, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and a voice from heaven was heard by all stating that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that they were to follow Him.  Jesus began His public ministry by coming to the temple and cleansing it.  Just as Malachi had foretold.  He came to die for the sins of His people, rise from the dead, and come again.  When He comes again, he will set up and reign in the kingdom that God promised to the Hebrews.  Knowing how this ended, there is a phrase that sticks out at me.  “Whom ye delight in.”   Isn’t that odd?  If they delighted in their Messiah, why did they kill Him?

It is interesting how we can delight in a forthcoming promise, then reject it once it comes.  We want the blessings of it.  We had not counted the cost in that which we delighted in.  Imagine you are from a very poor family, and it is your life’s dream to go to college, earn a professional degree, work in a very profitable career, and help your parents for the rest of their lives.  You work hard.  You study.  You graduated at the top of the class.  It seems as though your dream just might come true.  Applications go out.  You submit your thesis explaining your wish to attend that particular school.  The administration meets and agrees that you are the perfect candidate.  There is joy in your heart until you find out the cost.  It appears your dream is coming true, but the financial obligation is far beyond your reach.  You apply for different grants and loans.  A few come in, but the chasm between what is available and what you need may as well be the Grand Canyon.  You are distraught.  Your intentions were good.  You wanted to help those who raised you.  You wept.  You prayed.  You asked the LORD to do something for you that you could not do for yourself.  He assured you that He would answer your prayer.  The last quarter of the last semester loomed large.  No answer.  Would He supply your need?  When the commitment letter came and you had to sign on the dotted line, there was still that very large sum that seemed like mount Everest.  God has not answered.  Will He?  Then, out of the blue, one of your old bosses heard of your dilemma and promised to cover the cost of your entire education.  Finally, your delight had come!

The freshman year started out rough.  What came easy in High School was super hard in college.  You found yourself falling further down the academic ranking.  What seemed like a delight was not a burden.  With the dream comes hard work.  With delight comes responsibility.  There comes a time when you must choose to see it all the way through or drop out.  Dropping out would be an insult to the one who paid your way.  What would you do?  That is exactly what Israel did with Jesus Christ and I am afraid many church saints as well.  We want the blessings of being saved.  We what God to be our benevolent Father.  We what heaven instead of hell.  But when the responsibility of the arrangement comes due, then all of a sudden what once was a delight becomes a burden.  Israel rejected Jesus because it meant rejecting Rome and living holy.  Accepting their Messiah meant short-term hardship for long-term bliss.  It is amazing that we reject what is best for us because of the responsibility of possessing it.

Holiness For All

“In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.” (Zec 14:20-21 AV)

The pots and bowls were used for two distinct purposes.  They were also of different materials and quality.  The pots were earthenware made for seething meat over a fire.  The bowls were made of brass and used to gather blood from a sacrifice to apply to the altar.  The first was used for temporal needs and would be covered in evidence of its use.  The latter would be used for sacred purposes and ceremonially cleansed.  The first was common and used for temporal reasons.  The latter was special and used for sacred reasons.  However, when used for the purposes for which God intended, they were both holy.  Condition alone did not determine holiness.  A newly formed seething pot that sat unused was not considered holy.  A brass bowl, newly formed and polished was not considered holy.  Proper conditioning and use determined holiness.  This means holiness is not determined by one’s call or qualifications for that call.  Rather, holiness is determined by preparation for and execution of a divinely appointed purpose.

Somewhere along the timeline of Israel, they misunderstood the principle of holiness.  The seething pot, because it was a cooking vessel, was considered common and unclean.  The brass bowl, because it was used in the sacrifices of the tabernacle, we automatically considered holy.  What Israel forgot is the principle of divine decree.  No matter the vessel, as long as they were prepared and used, they were considered holy.  Somewhere along the line, the church may have forgotten the same truth.  Especially where it applies to people.  Social status, personality, abilities, public versus private ministry, or education are not determining factors to a person’s holiness.  Even though outward appearance is important, outward appearance alone does not define someone as holy.  There is a word of encouragement here for the seething pots.  Those who work for the LORD in more mundane or temporally defined ways are no less holy before the LORD than those who are serving in capacities of public attention or leadership.

Note in particular the promise given to the pots.  Notice also the distinction given to the Canaanites.  The promise to the pots of seething (the Canaanites) that their ministry will touch the lives of everyone who comes to worship.  The same is not given to the bowls.  The common and earthen vessels are met with those who need that which is contained within.  The bowls have become obsolete by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  The pots of seething are never outdated.  People will need nourishment.  It reminds me of Paul’s comparison of the human body to the church.  The more needful parts are the more comely parts.  The big toe or thumb is needed more than the head or heart.  The Canaanite, or the Gentile, was forbidden from tabernacle service.  Only the Levitical priesthood could do service at the temple or tabernacle.  When Jesus comes, then all will be able to serve.  There is no distinction.  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Ga 3:28 AV)   As long as we are in the center of God’s will striving after Christlikeness and purpose, then we are considered holy.  Praise be to God.

God's Delight - Our Failures

“My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [in whom] he delighteth.” (Pr 3:11-12 AV)

This morning, I prayed and asked the LORD for some words of encouragement.  I wondered why every day has to be filled with correction.  Not that I don’t deserve it.  Probably far more than most.  This is before I knew what it was that I was going to read.  We started out in Zechariah chapters 10-12.  Chapters 10 and 11 regard the shepherds who lead the people astray or, at the very least, simply do not care about the people.  That is when I prayed that prayer.  Psalm 92 was next.  That is a great psalm.  It is filled with encouragement and praise.  I thought the LORD had answered my prayer.  Then we closed out with Proverbs chapter three.  And this is what I read.  Those who think the LORD has no sense of humor have not walked with Him very long or deeply.  So, here I sit with a chuckle in my chest and knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Father loves me!

There is one word here that often gets overlooked: delighteth.   It means, “to be pleased with, be favourable to, accept favourably”.  Now, note here in particular the tense of God’s delight.  It is not after the chastening or correction.  Rather, it is before the correction.  The delight of the LORD is present prior to correction being administered.  What an encouragement!  We know we displease the LORD when we sin, recoil in fear, or fail to live up to His expectations of us.  Our earthly fathers would definitely not be delighted in us.  They would be angry.  They would be displeased.  They might even be embarrassed.  Not God!  Not our heavenly Father!  Regardless of what I have done or failed to do, He is pleased, favourable, and accepts me.  It is my actions, or failure to act, that cause His displeasure.  It is important that we remember this.  If we do not, we will misunderstand our relationship with the LORD and see Him as a permanently angry God whom we can never please.

If we grow weary of correction from God, then we do not understand the nature of our relationship.  Remember also that His pleasure and favour are predicated on foreknowledge as well.  He knows before we do how we will respond to His hand.  He knows exactly what buttons to push that will get us where He wants us to be.  He is a confident Father who knows regardless of our immediate reaction to His hand that we will be transformed into the image of His dear Son and that nothing or no one can stay His hand.  What do you know?  He did give a great word of encouragement this morning.  You and I are children of God.  He is a Father who delights in His children because He knows what we will become far better than we ever will.  He rejoices not in what is, but what will be.  His favour is not completely based on our present condition, but rather, on what He knows we will be.  His delight, then, is manifested in part by correction.  Using the word ‘molding’ perhaps helps us to understand the hand of God a little differently.  Correction is not solely an act of justice.  Rather, correction from a father has shaping and mentoring as the motive.  That is delight!  Praise God that He delights in us!

The Promise of Purpose

“And it shall come to pass, [that] as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, [but] let your hands be strong.” (Zec 8:13 AV)

This is an awesome promise to any purposeless soul that if God is allowed to make something of that person, then his life would benefit others.  Our prophet speaks of reconciled Israel.  Because of their backsliding, they did more damage to the world than helped it.  Their calling was to show forth the glory and holiness of God through worship and obedience to His word.  Instead, they made a mockery of God by compromising with those whom they were supposed to win.  They became a curse among the heathen because they were no different.  God became a byword because of their actions.  When the Messiah returns, all this will change.  Jesus will reclaim the remnant, and they will be as lights shining forth the truth of salvation in Christ.  They will be the bearers of hope to a world without it.  But this promise in not limited to the backslidden.  It applies to all who trust in Jesus and whose lives reflect His glory.  Prior to salvation, we were of little good to humanity.  In a backslidden state, we are worse than lost.  Hypocrisy does more damage than carnality alone.  But if God is allowed to reclaim that soul from the grips of sin, then his or her life will be a source of immense blessing to any and all who need it.

The last part of this verse is what intrigues me.  The promise for Israel is future.  Therefore, they are encouraged to be strong and not fear in the present.  This makes sense.  If the promise is restoration to usefulness and purpose in the future, then it makes sense to encourage them to faith and faithfulness in the present.  Their day of being a blessing is coming.  Therefore, do not quit or lose hope.  But what of those who walk with Christ today?  One can see how failure in the past might discourage hope in usefulness toward the future.  I have worked with many who have made very bad decisions and then wondered if the LORD could do anything with them sometime in the future.  It doesn’t matter what circumstances exist.  It might be poor choices.  Or it might be diminished abilities.  As we age, we wonder if our lives can still matter.  All we want is to make a difference.  No matter how large or how small, the child of God wants God to do something with the life so graciously granted.  Idleness is a nightmare.  Purposeless is hopelessness.

The more I meditate on the truth of purpose and meaning, the more I am convinced that this present world is trying to eliminate most of it.  Mere existence is the highest goal in mind.  Mental illness is at an all-time high.  Substance abuse is out of control.  Productivity is waning, and it seems that many people have no greater goal in life than to exist.  God did not wire us that way.  The first thing He did with Adam was to give him two jobs to do.  He was to name all the animals.  That had a start date and an end date.  Eventually, all the animals that existed would be named.  He also told him to tend and keep the garden.  That had a start date, but it was an ongoing chore with no end.  It was a job of maintenance.  In His infinite wisdom, God gave Adam a purpose to life.  It was only when those purposes were abandoned and self-interest was the priority that sin entered the world.  When God promises Israel and the saints that if they stay steadfast in hope and strength, He will make something of our lives, that is one of the greatest promises of all.  I know what purposelessness feels like.  I know what it is like to serve in a ministry that does not respond.  I know what it is like to have all your children get married and move out within one year.  I know what it is like to get up in the morning with nothing to do.  What a nightmare.  Praise the LORD God that He has promised us a life of blessing toward others.  Praise be to God!

He Will Get Us Over The Finish Line

“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.” (Zec 4:9 AV)

Zerubbabel and Ezra were responsible for repairing and rebuilding the temple destroyed by Babylon 70 years prior.  Their project would result in a smaller building with much less ‘show’.  When Babylon destroyed Solomon’s temple, they carried away all the precious metals.  When the temple was repaired, it lacked the flair of the original.  Many wept because of it.  Many saw the project as a demotion of sorts.  What is puzzling is the assessment above.  It is assumed that Zerubbabel would not finish the project because of that very observation.  They believed that because the repaired temple lacked the flamboyance of the former, that those in charge of the project would abandon it.  Add to this the many troubles they would face with enemies within and without, and the people simply didn’t believe this repaired temple would go up.  When God is in the project, it will get done.  It must have been very satisfying for Zerubbabel and Ezra to complete their calling.  What they started, the LORD enabled them to finish.

I am reliving my childhood.  I went out and got a plastic model kit.  The kit is a 1937 Ford Pickup truck.  One doesn’t get just the kit.  There are tools of the trade.  There is a craft knife, work mat, sandpaper, and a drying stand.  There are paints; both enamel and water-based.  A magnifying glass for aged eyes is also a help.  There are paintbrushes, paint thinner, and glue.  All this is in a tackle box.  The model I got was the highest skill level they make.  There are more pieces than a simpler skill level might have, and one must think ahead before glue is used.  Putting this together takes weeks.  One can only do a little at a time.  Many of the parts are painted before assembly, and when glued, the paint has to be sanded off at the point of adhesion.  If one is in a hurry, he or she will give up.  Much like a 3-D puzzle, when the project is accepted, commitment must be all the way through.  When it is done, there will be a deep sense of satisfaction for completing such a project.  Even though I don’t have the steadiest of hands, I am sure there will be pleasure at the project once done.

It is hard to start a project that one knows he will not complete.  After a while, the heart becomes discouraged.  Commitment wanes.  Zerubbabel was promised that if and when he started, the LORD would enable him to finish.  What an encouragement that must have been.  Not only was it encouragement to Zerubbabel, but it was also evidence to the people of God that God was in it.  Why?  We may not know exactly.  But what we do know is that a man who starts something against all odds and finishes it, just might have been called and enabled from God above.  For me, I take this as encouragement.  God calls us all to a purpose.  As we age, we begin to wonder if we will ever do enough for the LORD.  What He tells us is that if we surrender to our purpose, He will enable us to finish it!  Praise be to the LORD!

Good and Comfortable Words

“And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me [with] good words [and] comfortable words.” (Zec 1:13 AV)

This was the right thing to do!  Zechariah was discouraged.  More specifically, he was discouraged with the wicked being at peace and prospering at the expense of God’s people.  The context is encouragement in the midst of unsavory circumstances.  These circumstances were caused by Israel’s disobedience.  God had every right to refuse words of encouragement.  However, that is not what they needed.  Correction is only as effective as the mercy that follows.  Sometimes, even though we know that we caused our own problems, we need good and comfortable words.

Circumstances are often enough to remind us of the poor choices we have made.  Words of comfort and encouragement are the balance.  Serving as a chaplain in the health care industry afforded many opportunities to offer good and comfortable words regardless of the cause of a situation.  There was a woman whose son was dying of a drug overdose.  She was well aware of the cause of her son’s situation.  She didn’t need to be reminded.  What she needed was someone who had the faith she lacked.  There was a man whose life choices found him in need of a new heart.  Because of his lifestyle, the transplant team rejected his application.  He was facing certain death.  He didn’t need to be reminded that his poor life choices were the cause of his diagnosis.  He already knew that.  He needed prayer, counsel, and divine forgiveness.  There was the fellow who found himself in the wrong part of town.  A part that he didn’t need to be in.  Although his circumstances were not caused by sinful choices, lack of wisdom was.  He was beaten to near death.  He didn’t need to be instructed that he was in the wrong place.  He knew that.  He needed words of encouragement.  He needed to know that he would be alright and that justice would prevail.  The farmer who plants his crop and then suffers drought doesn’t need to be reminded that he will have financial hardship in his near future.  He knows that.  He needs support and empathy.  The individual who is laid off doesn’t need to be reminded that with his skill set and age, it will be near to impossible to find more work.  He knows that.  What he needs is someone who has faith to come alongside him and spur him on one day at a time.

A wise father will understand when his children need good and comfortable words because the opposite is not necessary.  He will see the downcast demeanor of his dear child and know that the circumstances of life have had their perfect work.  It is time for good and comfortable words.  It is time for Zechariah to give his people something to look forward to.  It is time that the prophet and people acknowledge that God is patient and longsuffering.  It is time for the man of God to let the people know that the sun will rise tomorrow.  The news of the coming Messiah is what they needed.  They didn’t need to be reminded of this immediate situation.  Rather, they needed good and comfortable words.  The word of God is filled with a balance of challenging or correcting words, and words of comfort and encouragement.  The Bible is not one-sided.  As God’s people, we need a balance.  We cannot recoil at the correction.  It is for our own good.  But at the same time, we cannot gloss over the good and comfortable words.  We need them, too.