We Believe in God the Father

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace 
January 6, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Every week, as we join together in confessing our faith in the Lord our God, we begin our confession by stating that we believe in God, the Father, Almighty.  Now, as you know, depending on which creed we use, we either say, “I believe,” or “We believe.”  The reason for this is that the Apostles Creed, which we use on non-Communion Sundays, was designed as a creed to be used and spoken by those who were confessing their faith as they entered into the membership of the church.  Thus the member to be would stand before the congregation—much like our Confirmands stand before the congregation today—and that member to be would confess before the entire congregation, “I believe in God, the Father, Almighty…”  The Nicene Creed, which we use on Communion Sundays because it speaks more fully about Jesus and the work that he did here as our Savior, was designed to be a corporate creed—a creed used by the congregation of believers to confess their collective faith in “God, the Father, Almighty…”  But now comes the logical question!  What do we mean when we confess that we believe in God, the Father, Almighty?  Though we speak these words each and every week and even though we hold them in our hearts as our confession of faith, the question still remains, “What do we mean when we confess that we believe in God, the Father, Almighty? 

Well, to answer this question, we want to turn to the Scriptures to better understand what we mean when we say, “We Believe in God, the Father, Almighty!  First, we turn to John 17:1-3 where John writes, “After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:1–3, NIV84)

In such beautifully simple way, Jesus reveals that belief in God is knowing who the true God is through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Just as we talked about last week!  We believe in God the Father Almighty because we know who he is through Jesus Christ, his Son.  We know that the Father is one of the persons of the Trinity.  We know that he is not the Son or the Holy Spirit and yet he is at the same time our true God.  Now, the interesting thing about belief is that people in all parts of the world believe in all kinds of Gods.  Some gods are idols made up of wood or stone.  Some are gods made up by men who said they had a dream or a vision.  Though these may well be people who sincerely believe in their gods, they do not believe in God, the Father, because they do not know him, or Jesus Christ whom he sent.

Yet believing in God includes even more than knowing who the true God is!  Take a look at 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13, NIV84)

When we come to faith in the Lord our God, we come to know who the true God is and what he has done for us.  We come to know this from the lessons and the accounts that our Lord recorded for us in his Word, and from this we accept that the Bible is God’s Word.  We accept that the Bible is the only source of our Salvation and that the Bible is the only place where the Lord has recorded his word for us.  This is what believing in God, the Father, Almighty, is all about!  It is about knowing who the Lord our God is, and accepting that the Bible is his word!

Now, having said this, let me address the question that always comes up every single time that I teach this lesson.  “Pastor, how can you know this for sure?”  Well, the simple answer is, I can’t know for sure.  I can only accept that the Bible is God’s Word through faith in God the Father, and because I have come to know who God the Father is through the Bible I accept that the Bible is God’s Word.  Now, I can’t prove that the Bible is God’s Word.  There is no scientific proof to demonstrate this as a fact.  However, when I compare the message of the Bible to every other religious book in our world, the message of the Bible is always different.  No matter how motivational, encouraging, uplifting, or instructional all the other religious books of our world might be, it is only the Bible that teaches; that we are by nature lost in sin and enemies of our God; that our God loved us so much that he sent his one and only son to take our place and bear the punishment that we deserved; that through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior all that we did wrong has been forgiven, we are at peace with God, our Father, through Jesus Christ, his Son,  and now moved by that knowledge we seek to live for our God out of love for him.  Every other religious book and religious teaching in this world teaches that in order to find forgiveness or salvation we have to take part in the work and contribute something (even just the slightest thing) in order for forgiveness or salvation to be applied to us.  This is the difference between the Bible and every other book and teaching in the world.  This is the difference between the way the Lord our God reveals himself to the human race, and how the human race perceives and seeks to understand who God really is.

As Christians who believe in God, the Father, Almighty, we know who the true God is, because he has revealed himself to us in his Word—the Bible—and because he has revealed himself to us in the Bible, we trust that all his promises are true just as the Centurion did.  Matthew tells us about him in chapter 8, beginning with verse 5: “When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” 7 Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour." (Matthew 8:5–13, NIV84)

In faith, the Centurion trusted that if Jesus simply said the word, his servant would be healed.  He trusted that Jesus’ words were a bond, a promise of what would happen, and it did.  His servant was healed at the very moment that Jesus spoke the Words.  The Centurion trusted Jesus’ promises in the same way that Abraham trusted the Lord’s promise that one day he would have a Son.  Though Abraham had to wait 25 years until Isaac was born, though he listened to his wife’s plan to have a son through her slave Haggar, and even though by the time the promise would be fulfilled their bodies were to the point that they were no longer able to have children, Abraham trusted the Lord’s promise that he would have a Son, and when he was 100 years old, the Lord fulfilled the promise and gave him a Son. 

This is what believing in God, the Father, Almighty, is all about.  It is about knowing who the true God is; the true God who has revealed himself through the Bible which we accept as his Word.  It is about trusting the promises that the Lord has give to us through his word—promises that the Savior has come; that the appearing of the Gentile  Wise Men is assurance that Jesus came even for the Gentiles like us; that through Jesus death and resurrection all our sins have been forgiven and we are at peace with our heavenly Father; that through faith in Jesus he will take us to be with him forever when he calls us from this life to our life by our Father’s side forever in his heavenly kingdom.

What a comfort it is to know that God, the Father, Almighty, is also our Father.  Though we have all had earthly Fathers who have affected our lives in one way or another, it is God, our heavenly father, in whom we believe, who longs to father us, nurture us, and help us through this life.  No matter what type of earthly father we may have had, we believe in God, the Father, Almighty, who is our heavenly Father, because, as we know from the prophet Malachi, he is the one who created us! (see Malachi 2:10)  We know that God is our Father because he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who was sent to the earth by God, our Father, when the time was right.  He sent Jesus to the earth to be born under the Law so that he might redeem we, who were under the Law, that we might receive the full rights of sons and daughters of God, our heavenly Father. (See Gal 3:26 – 4:7).  Now, that we have been called to faith God our heavenly Father, by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, we have come to know Jesus, our Savior and our Brother, who has made known to us our heavenly Father.  Now that we have come to believe in God, the Father, Almighty, we find comfort and assurance that God our heavenly Father loves us, cares for us, strengthens us, disciplines us, teaches us, encourages us, and calls us his own. 

Now, if you would like to understand this concept of our heavenly Father’s fathering activity in your life, I have two books that I can suggest which can help you.  Now, you know that I don’t do this all that often. In fact, this is only the 2nd time I’ve suggested outside reading to you.  You also know that these are books that I have read and found to be a blessing to me and my family.  The first book is:  Wild at Heart, by John Eldridge.  This is a book written primarily for men, but it can also be a benefit for women to read.  It is a book that helps men better understand the wild heart that the Lord placed inside them, and how the Lord longs to father the heart of that son.  The second book is: You are Captivating, by Stasi Eldredge.  This book is written primarily for women, but an also be a benefit for men to read.  It is a book that helps women better understand their feminine hearts and the amazing strength with which the Lord has blessed them.  It is a book that helps women better understand how the Lord loves them and longs to father his beloved daughter.

Now, these books are by no means, Scripture.  They simply are written from a Christian and biblical point of view to help people better understand how God, the heavenly Father, works in their lives.  I recommend them to you because I have read them and they have helped me better understand my heavenly Father all the better.  They have taken me back to the Scriptures and made me study up on my heavenly Father and how he reveals himself in his Word.  They have even helped me foster a greater appreciation for all that my heavenly father has done for me in my life.  Thus, in reading these books, my faith in God the Father has been strengthened because they drove me back to God’s Word, and caused me to study it all the more.  I share them with you today so that you might do the same.

But regardless of what you do, you leave here today with a stronger belief in God, the Father, Almighty!  You leave here with a stronger faith in your heavenly Father.  You leave here, knowing all the more who the true God is because you know how he has revealed himself to you in the pages of the Scriptures which you have accepted is his Word.  You leave here with a greater trust and assurance that all the promise the Lord has ever made are true and have either been fulfilled in the past, or they will be fulfilled when Jesus comes again.  You leave here knowing that God, the Father, Almighty, is your heavenly father who longs to be a father to you, and help you to grow in his grace.  You leave here knowing that the God in whom you believe is the Father of your Lord Jesus who freed you from your sins so that you might live with your heavenly father forever.  Though today we won’t be confessing, “We believe in God, the Father, Almighty” in the Apostles Creed, we will be confessing that very faith as we join together to sing our faith in Hymn 270 on page 7 of your service folders.  Please stand and we will join together in singing our believe in our triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Jesus Is Our Unchanging Savior! (Hebrews 13:8)

New Year's Eve 
December 31, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

If there is one thing that we can count on in this life, its change.  For the truth is, change is all around us.  We see it outside as we watch spring changing into summer, summer to fall, and fall to winter, winter back into spring once again.  We see it in the weather as sunny days change to cloudy days, warm days turn cold, and rain changes into snow.  We see it in our living rooms as we flip through the channels of our TV’s looking for something to watch.  We see it in our children and grandchildren as we watch them grow from infant to toddler, toddler to child, child to teenager, and teenager to adult.  And we see it in ourselves.  For each time we look in the mirror we see a reflection that has changed in some way since the last time we looked at it.  Even though the change may be so small that we don’t see it right away, given a few days, weeks, or even years, we can see just how our faces, our hair, and even our eyes have changed.  But even though change is something that we deal with in every aspect of our earthly lives, when it comes to our religious lives we know that Jesus is our unchanging Savior.  So tonight, as we celebrate the changing of the years, we will place our trust and confidence in Jesus our unchanging Savior. 

What a comfort it is for us to know that Jesus is our unchanging Savior!  What a comfort it is to know that no matter what changes in this life, Jesus will never change, for as the writer to the Hebrews tells us: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).  This truth, that Jesus is our unchanging Savior has been our comfort and assurance throughout our lives.  He was our comfort twelve years ago as we faced the prospect of stepping from 1999 into the year 2000.  He was our comfort a little more than twelve days ago when people wondered if the Mayan Calendar would be right and we would see the end of the world in December.  He has been our comfort every time people have predicted the end of the world.  He has been our comfort through the past years as we’ve faced layoffs, closures, and even the searching for a new job.  He’s been our comfort as we’ve enjoyed health and prosperity, as we’ve endured sickness and injury, and even as we’ve faced fear and death.  But most incredibly, he has stood buy us even through our sins.  For even though we have been unfaithful to him on many occasions, even though we have turned our backs on him and run away, even though we have thrown ourselves head first into our sins, our Savior never left our side.  He stood by us even when we wanted nothing to do with him, and he led us from our sins so that we might fall at his feet in repentance.  Then, as we’ve laid at his feet with tears running down our cheeks, he extends his hand, lifts us up, and assures us of his forgiveness.  He reminds us that he used his own blood to wash way every scarlet stain of those sins, cleansing our hearts until they were whiter than the freshly fallen snow we normally see in the winter. 

Now, tonight, as we sit here in worship, Jesus is the one who is building us up.  He is the one assuring us that our sins have been forgiven.  He is reminding us that he is our unchangeable Savior who will never leave us nor forsake us.  Though the world might change around us, Jesus will never change.  Though our father and mother forsake us, though friends should turn their backs on us and hate us, Jesus will never leave us.  No matter what changes the New Year might hold for us, no matter what unforeseen triumphs or tragedies we might face, Jesus will be there with us.  So now, as we look forward to the beginning of a New Year we look forward with confidence.  We look forward with confidence because we know that our Savior goes with us, just as he has in the past.  For Jesus Christ is our unchanging Savior.  He is the same today as he was yesterday, and he will be the same tomorrow and forever! 

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

What is our God Like?

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace

December 30, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

It has been said that what you know about a person usually affects the way that you feel about a person, and in most cases that seems to be true.  Take, for example, Abraham Lincoln.  He was the 16th president of the United States.  He was the President in Office during the Civil War.  He was the one who was determined that the United States of America should remain together as a single nation.  He was the one who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing those who were salves from their forced servitude, and putting into motion the events that led to the 13th amendment to the US Constitution, which finally Abolished Slavery in the United States.  He was the one who was assassinated at Ford’s Theater a mere 5 days after the Civil War came to an end.  Because of this knowledge, there are many who love Lincoln and hail him as one of the greatest Presidents our Nation has ever seen.  Though he was continually ridiculed and spoken against in his time, because of what we know about him from history, we are able to form our own opinion about him, and our own personal feelings about him have been affected in many ways by what we know.  Well the same thing is true about the Lord our God, our opinion of him is very much affected by what we know about him.  Thus, as we study the Scriptures before us today we will seek to learn about our God and answer the question, “What is our God like?”

To answer this question, we want to take a look at what the Bible has to say about God’s Characteristics and learn two basic ways that God’s nature is different than ours.  So, I invite you to grab your Bibles and turn to Matthew 28:19 which can be found on page 989.  As you are looking it up, let me give you the context of this passage.  It had been 40 days since Jesus rose from the dead, and Jesus and his disciples were standing on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus was giving them his final instructions and blessings before he would ascend into heaven.  While he was speaking to them he told them, (and we’ll read Matthew 28:19 together): “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19, NIV)

Just as Jesus began his ministry with the Father’s blessing and the Holy Spirit’s descending upon him, so also Jesus returns to heaven instituting the Sacrament of Baptism, proclaiming that all of his disciples should baptize people in the name of the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Thus, Jesus reveals that our God is three distinct and separate persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Thus, when we look at our God we know that the Father is not the Son.  We know that the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and we know that the Holy Spirit is not the Father.  Yet, even as we worship our God in three separate and distinct persons, we know that we do not worship three separate Gods but we worship only one God, as Moses tells us in Deuteronomy 6:4.  Turn with me, if you would, to Deuteronomy 6:4, which can be found on page 178 of your Bibles, and we’ll read this passage together also.  Again, as you look up the passage, let me set the context.  The Israelites have completed their 40 years of wandering in the desert and they are preparing to cross the Jordan and take the land of Canaan.  As they prepare, Moses is reminding them of all that the Lord has done for them.  In Chapter 5 Moses reviewed the Ten Commandments and now, in verses 4 of Chapter 6, Moses speaks about the Lord whom we serve as we follow his commandments.  And we read together: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, NIV)

With these words, the Lord God reveals a very specific distinction between his nature and our nature.  He is one!  Though, He is three separate and distinct persons these three separate and distinct persons make up one individual God.  How this can be, we do not know we simply believe it and accept it by faith, because God himself has told us that he is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three persons yet one God.  So, if we should ever take the Father out of the picture, would we still believe in the true God proclaimed by the Bible?  No, because we would only have the Son and the Holy Spirit and not all three.  What if we took the Son out of the picture and believed only in the Father and the Holy Spirit?  The same thing would be true.  We would not have the True God spoken of in the Bible.  What if we took the Holy Spirit out of the picture and only believed in the Father and the Son, would we still have the true God proclaimed by the Bible?  Again, the answer is no.  even though the Bible never uses the word Triune to describe our God, the Bible makes it clear that the God we worship is three persons (tri) yet one God (une), which gives us our Triune God 3 person in one God, just as Jesus tells us in the  Gospel of John: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. ” (John 16:13–15, NIV)

From all of these passages, we can clearly see the two basic ways that our God’s nature is different than our own.  Not only is the Lord our God Triune—Three Persons yet, One God—but also, as we have been taught since we were little Children, the Lord our God is spirit.  Because the Lord is Spirit, he does not have a physical body.  Even though Jesus came to the earth and took on our human flesh and blood, when he ascended into heaven, he returned to his spirit form.  Yet, the Lord our God is not some distant force sailing around the galaxy, he is a real personal being who hears our prayers and understands our needs.  He desires and even demands the most important place in our hearts and our lives.  He calls on us to worship him, praise him, and thank him for all that he has done for us.  He forgives us each and every time we fall in to temptation and sin against him, and he has chosen to reveal himself to us through the pages of the Scriptures so that we might gain a better understanding of who he is through the many characteristics that he reveals to us in his Word. 

So, let’s take another look at the Scriptures to see if we might discover all that the Lord our God wants us to learn about himself.  To do this, we will turn to Psalm 139 which can be found on page 618, and as you are looking up Psalm 139 on page 618, let me give you just a little bit of an introduction.  Psalm 139 is one of the many Psalms that King David wrote by the inspiration of the Lord.  It was given to the director of music for use as a song for worship in the temple.  It has even been called the Psalm of the All knowing and Ever Present God, and the reason for this will become clear as I read.  In fact, due to the length of the Psalm I invite you to follow along with me as I read:  “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ” (Psalm 139:1–24, NIV)

In such a beautiful way the Lord so clearly reveals that he is omniscient—all knowing—and omnipresent—present everywhere.  He reminds us that not only does he know everything that we say and do, he also knows us better than our friends, our family, even our own fathers and mothers.  He knows what we need when we need it, and he is always present with us, watching over us, protecting us, helping us, and ready to comfort us.  He is also the all-powerful God who created our inmost beings, who knit us together in our mothers’ wombs.  He is the God who can and will use his unlimited power to punish those who do not believe in him in the fires of eternal damnation, and he is the God who can and will use his unlimited power to bring those who believe in him to the halls of eternal life where we will live with him forever.

What more beautiful and comforting words could the Lord give to us as he reveals himself to us through his Word!  Yet, there are so many more passages we could chose today to teach us more about the Characteristics of our God.  The problem is, we are running out of time this morning, that is, if we feel we must keep our service as close to an hour as possible.  However, since that is our custom, perhaps just one final passage.  Turn with me to Exodus 34:5-7 on page 88.  Again, let me give you the background for these verses: Moses had been with the Lord on the Mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, during which time the people persuaded Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship.  When Moses came down and saw what they were doing, he broke the tablets, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, sprinkled it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.  Now, he had returned to the mountain with two new tablets of stone for the Lord’s commands where he had also asked the Lord to show him his glory, which is where we pick up as we read together: “Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming,

“The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5–7, NIV)

In such a beautiful way, the Lord our God reveals to us some of his most incredible characteristics.  We know of his compassion for us in his sending Jesus to be our Savior.  We know of his Graciousness that he does not treat us as our sins deserve, but he shows his love and his patience for us by giving us this time of grace in which to come to faith.  He shows his love and his faithfulness by continually protecting us from all harm and danger, and forgiving all our sins for Jesus’ sake.  Though the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished, through faith in him, we live in his love and faithfulness.  We see the Lord our God as the loving, caring, and gracious God he is. 

Thus, today, in the same way we have learned about Abraham Lincoln from history, we have learned what the Lord our God is like.  For from the pages of Scripture, we have come to know that our all powerful Triune God is a Spirit who reveals himself to us in the Scriptures.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Persevere in Your Faith! (Hebrews 10:1-39)

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace

Fourth Sunday in Advent

December 23, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Three weeks ago, we began a series of Catechatical sermons—sermons which are based on the lessons that our Confirmation students study in their Confirmation classes.  These are lessons that most of you learned a number of years ago as you sat at the feet of the particular pastor who taught you to delve deeply into the truths of the Bible.  Today, we are using this series of sermons to help us “Grow together in God’s Grace,” so that we might be built up as his children and so that we might continue to persevere in the faith which the Lord has established in our hearts.

So far in this series, we’ve learned how the Lord has revealed himself to us through his creation, through our conscience and especially through his Word; the Bible.  We learned that the Bible is such an important book to us, because it is the only source through which we can become wise for salvation.  We learned that it is through the Bible that we learn the difference between God’s Law and God’s Gospel—that the only thing that the Law can ever do for us is to show us our sins and our need for a Savior.  Yet, it is in the Gospel that we learn about God’s plan for our salvation—how he sent Jesus to be our Savior.  Now, moved through the Gospel we seek to live according to God’s word and follow his Law, out of love for our God who loved us so much that he saved us even though we could never save ourselves.  Now, as we continue to Grow together in God’s Grace, we will hear the writer to the Hebrews applying to our lives all that we’ve learned so far.  We will hear him speak to us of the purpose of God’s Law.  We will hear him reveal the great Gospel message of God’s salvation, and we will hear him warn us with the Law and encourage us with the Gospel as he call on us to Persevere in Our Faith!

So, with that introduction, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 10, found on page 1190, and we will dive in, together, and see how the writer to the Hebrews calls on us to persevere in our faith.  Now, as you are turning to Hebrews 10, let me remind you of the purpose of the Book of Hebrews.  Even though we don’t know who wrote the book, we do know that when it was written Christianity was being persecuted.  Jewish Christians, especially, were feeling the pressure to give up Christianity and go back to their former way of life in Judaism.  In this way, they would once again fit in with all those around them and they would be able to avoid persecution. It was because of this that the writer wrote in Chapter 10 beginning with verse 1: “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ” 8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:1–10, NIV84)

As he wrote, he called on them to persevere in their faith, because if they went back to their former way of life in Judaism they would miss out on the one who came to do the will of the Lord.  They would miss out on their salvation all together, because they would be binding themselves to a set of rules and regulations that no longer served its former purpose because the reality had been found in Christ.  This is the very point the writer makes as he continues on in the next verses: “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin." (Hebrews 10:11–18, NIV84)

In essence the writer to the Hebrews was calling on each and every person to persevere in faith, because the faith which had been created in their hearts, faith that trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, this was the only source of salvation they had.  If they went back to observing the law, they would be lost, because they could not keep the law perfectly as God demands.  If they went back to the law they would be lost because they would be looking forward to the salvation that was coming, and by looking forward to the coming Savior, they would be ignoring the actual Savior, and they would be living outside of God’s Kingdom, because they had set aside their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the World.  Even though they were facing persecution, the writer to the Hebrews was calling on them to persevere in their faith because Jesus was and is their High Priest who had made his sacrifice for sins once for all.  Then, after he had made his sacrifice, he had gone and sat down at the right hand of God the Father.  Jesus had forgiven their sins by his sacrifice and thus, done away with the need for any other sacrifice.  Jesus had given them the assurance that through faith in him, he would be with them even in the face of trouble.  He would be with them and deliver them in life, and finally he would deliver them to his side in heaven.

Just as the writer to the Hebrews called on them to persevere in their faith, so also the writer to the Hebrews is calling on each and every one of us to persevere in our faith.  He is calling on us to persevere in our faith, because the truth is, we face the very same temptations that the Jewish Christians did.  Though we may not be facing an all out active persecution as they faced, how often haven’t we felt the sting of persecution in our lives?  How often haven’t we felt the pressure to hide our faith or to simply keep our faith quiet so that we can fit in and be part of the group either at work or at school?  How often haven’t we received the question, “Why do you belong to that Church?  They don’t allow this…  They don’t allow that…  Why do you belong to that church when it is clear that they don’t really fit in or understand the ways of the world?  Why do you belong to a church that is backwards in its thinking?  Why do you belong to a church that sponsored hate by posting vote yes signs? 

Though there are times when even we begin to wonder why we believe what we believe, and though there are times that even we feel like throwing in the towel and giving up what we believe, as the writer to the Hebrews continues, he calls on us all the more fervently to persevere in our faith.  Take a look at vss. 19 and following, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:19–31, NIV84)

What greater encouragement could there be for us to persevere in our faith, than the encouragement that comes from knowing that we now have access to the Lord our God in the Most Holy place through the Blood of Jesus!  For you see, in the Temple, it was only the High Priest who was able to enter the Most Holy Place and minister before the Lord.  But, he was only allowed to enter once each year, on the Day of Atonement.  However, he could not enter the presence of the Lord behind the curtain without the blood of the sacrifice.  If he entered on the wrong day or entered without blood, then his life would be forfeit!  Yet, as we know, when Jesus died his blood was the atoning sacrifice for all our sins.  When Jesus died the curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom, thus, assuring us that the sins that separated us from our God have been forgiven.  They have been completely removed, and now we are free to approach our God with confidence because through faith in Jesus our Savior, we are children of our heavenly Father.  Now, moved by the forgiveness that Jesus won for us, the writer calls on us to persevere on our faith so that we do not become lazy in this life and miss out on the salvation that is ours!  For if we should become lazy in our faith, if we should grow weary of meeting together to grow in God’s grace, if we should give into persecution and try to fit in as one of the gang rather than live out our faith, if we should grow comfortable with any one of our sins and begin to live in our sins rather than live in the Lord’s forgiveness, then there will be nothing left for us but God’s wrath and punishment.  This is the point that the writer makes in verse 26 and 27, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." (Hebrews 10:26–27, NIV84)

These are difficult words to hear, but they are true, nonetheless!  If we deliberately keep on sinning by hiding our faith, by keeping ourselves away from the word of God, by appeasing our conscience with the thoughts that our pet sin is not nearly as bad as another’s pet sin, or even by living our lives in any manner that is contrary to what the Lord has to say; if we deliberately keep on sinning then all we are doing is spitting in the face of God’s forgiveness.  All we are doing is trampling under our feet the salvation that God has given us.  All we are doing is throwing away our confidence in Jesus Christ, our Savior, which is the exact opposite of what he calls on us to do in verse 35 and following: “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." (Hebrews 10:35–39, NIV84)

Persevere in your faith!  Continue to grow in your faith through worship here and your own personal Bible reading.  Remember all that Jesus did for you and how he freed you from all your sins by his death and resurrection.  Be assured that the Lord Jesus lives in your heart and helps you in every situation in your life. Continue to live your life out of love for the Lord Jesus turning to the Lord in repentance, receiving his forgiveness, and seeking to live according to his will.  As the writer to the Hebrews tells us in verses 22-25: “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:22–25, NIV84)

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN