All three passages this week remind us that Christ will return. They also remind us that our faith should be focused on the long term. In Amos 5:24 the prophet says, "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Faith recognizes that God works in His time, and that our responsibility is to prepare ourselves for His Son's return. We are to be alert! So what, then, does "alertness" look like? It is our understanding of that which allows us to understand how we can best prepare for that time when we will always be with the Lord.
"Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord!" (Psalm 70:1) For most of us, life is lived in a hurry. We rush from one place to the next, from one task to the next, from one moment to the next. Maybe that is why we are in such a hurry when it comes to the blessings we look to the Lord to provide. When trouble strikes, when difficult times come, we just want it to be over. That is a perfectly natural response, and there is nothing wrong with wanting our difficulties to be behind us. But those difficulties also provide space for God to work in our lives, and often we grow the most when we are experiencing adversity. This past Saturday and Sunday were set aside for Christians to pray for the persecuted church. The difficulties Christians all over the world face are terrible, and we should continue to lift them up in prayer, asking God for deliverance. Many of those churches, although persecuted, are experiencing tremendous growth; their adversity is being used by God to bear fruit for the Kingdom. As you and I struggle with our (admittedly smaller) trials, we want to be sure to keep our focus on the God who is at work, and to allow Him to work in His time, according to HIs purpose, for His glory, so that we can join the Psalmist in saying, "Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified!” (Psalm 70:4)
Psalm 70 4 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified!” Enough oil.
Amos 5:18-24 20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it? No oil, no light
Matthew 25:1-13 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Let us be filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The dead and Christ had enough oil. Do we, the living, have enough?
"Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light.
It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him!" (Amos 5:18-19)
Here Amos reminds his readers (and us) that there is no escaping judgment. To try and run away from God is the same as running from a lion and into the path of a bear, only to beat a hasty retreat to one's home, dash inside, close the door and, exhausted, lean one's hand against the wall only to be bitten by a deadly spider. There is no way to escape God. We can't run away from Him. Our only choice, really, is to run toward Him, to throw ourselves upon God's grace and mercy. But in order to do that, we have to give up all of the trappings of religion that we use to keep God at arm's length and embrace the relationship He longs for and calls us to. Are you ready to do that? Are you ready to give up all of the things that separate you from God, whether "good" or "bad," in order to gain the promise of eternal life? When you are ready, you will find the Lord is there, waiting to meet you.
“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;[a] go out to meet him!’ (Matthew 25:6) Christians believe that at some point there will be a "midnight cry," when Jesus will call those who belong to Him home. Now, it may not be at midnight, but there will come a time when we will all be gathered together to spend eternity with the Father. That should provide Christians with two things: a sense of urgency when it comes to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, since that call could come at any moment; a desire to be alert (that is, ready) for that call. Now, there is a sense in which we are already ready, for we have received Christ as our Savior and that is the only preparation which is critical for us to be included in the wedding feast. But Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 4:7 that we should also desire to finish well (" I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith"). We don't want to shamble into the Kingdom with our hands in our pockets and our heads down. We want to be found running toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. How hard are you running today?
"Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18) This was a promise written by Paul to the church in Thessalonica as the people there struggled with the death of their loved ones. They wondered what would happen to them, since Christ had not yet returned. Paul sought to assure them that, one day, we will all be together before the throne and that those who die in the Lord will be the first to meet Him. This promise helps us to cope not only with death, but all of the other difficulties we experience in life as well. We know the end of the story. We know how things will turn out, and that it will be glorious. As you and I suffer setbacks here on earth, as we struggle and stumble and sometimes fall, we can be certain that better days are coming. When those around us question, reject and sometimes even mock our message, we can be certain that we know the truth and the truth has set us free. What joy and peace this provides to us as we seek to serve our Savior while we await His return!
Happy Sabbath! "Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified!” (Psalm 70:4) I'll see you all in a few hours, and together we will magnify the Lord.
Today at the end of this week’s sermon I invited the congregation to think through how they can be on the alert for Jesus’ return. Later on the Sabbath School class that meets to discuss the sermon worked this out. The key is to being alert is to conquer our feelings which lead us to fear, which in turn leads us to foolishness.
Amos preached to people whose faith was based on their feelings. In order to be alert, we need to make sure that we pay attention to what we are feeling, setting aside time each day to connect with God and honestly share our feelings with Him. Feelings aren’t “right” or “wrong,” but if they become our main focus our faith is weakened and we can fall into sin. How we feel about our relationship with God has no bearing on our faith. Just because we feel like things are going well, especially because we are “doing” the right things (religion), doesn’t mean we are right with God. By communicating with God we are able to overcome the tendency to dwell in and live by our feelings.
The faith of the Thessalonians was tinged with fear. Though they were faithful in many ways, they fretted about the future. In order to remain alert, we must pay attention to where we are going. Trusting the Lord is something we keep on doing, not something we just do once. We can also remain alert by giving everything to God, rather than holding back or “compartmentalizing” (giving Him some things, but not everything).
In Matthew, Jesus warned His disciples (and us) against a faith that is influenced by “foolishness,” or failing to be on the alert in the here and now because we are too focused on what is to come (and especially our role in the future reign of Christ). In order to remain alert, we have to keep our focus on where we are. We can do that by dealing with things today, rather than ignoring or overlooking them as we wait for some future reward. We are called to follow Jesus every day, as we die to ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.
So that is what our class came up with. What do you think, class members? Did I miss anything? If so, post it here. And what do you think, congregation? What else did you come up with as you considered what it means to be on the alert? Post it here!
For me, the sticking point is to remember God's faithfulness in previous times of feelings, fear, and foolishness. Then, I can draw upon those remembrances to keep me from slipping so low next time. I can remember what he has done during my lowest points, and remember the good that came from those points. Then, I remember that I can trust him now, without letting my feelings, fear and foolishness get the best of me.
This is an excellent point that Damian introduced during the class. Take a look at how Moses, Joshua, the Psalms, and even Peter during his first sermon used the past as prologue to prepare the people of God to stand firm in their faith. Thanks for reminding me of that today, Damian!
Hebrews 13 shares service that is pleasing to God. We are reminded, I believe, that the cross is our altar and that we are preparing and looking forward to the city that is to come. Le us continue to confess his name.
All three passages this week remind us that Christ will return. They also remind us that our faith should be focused on the long term. In Amos 5:24 the prophet says, "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Faith recognizes that God works in His time, and that our responsibility is to prepare ourselves for His Son's return. We are to be alert! So what, then, does "alertness" look like? It is our understanding of that which allows us to understand how we can best prepare for that time when we will always be with the Lord.
ReplyDelete"Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord!" (Psalm 70:1) For most of us, life is lived in a hurry. We rush from one place to the next, from one task to the next, from one moment to the next. Maybe that is why we are in such a hurry when it comes to the blessings we look to the Lord to provide. When trouble strikes, when difficult times come, we just want it to be over. That is a perfectly natural response, and there is nothing wrong with wanting our difficulties to be behind us. But those difficulties also provide space for God to work in our lives, and often we grow the most when we are experiencing adversity. This past Saturday and Sunday were set aside for Christians to pray for the persecuted church. The difficulties Christians all over the world face are terrible, and we should continue to lift them up in prayer, asking God for deliverance. Many of those churches, although persecuted, are experiencing tremendous growth; their adversity is being used by God to bear fruit for the Kingdom. As you and I struggle with our (admittedly smaller) trials, we want to be sure to keep our focus on the God who is at work, and to allow Him to work in His time, according to HIs purpose, for His glory, so that we can join the Psalmist in saying, "Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified!” (Psalm 70:4)
ReplyDeletePsalm 70 4 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
ReplyDeleteAnd let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified!”
Enough oil.
Amos 5:18-24 20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
No oil, no light
Matthew 25:1-13 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Let us be filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
The dead and Christ had enough oil. Do we, the living, have enough?
Conclusion: Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.
Delete"Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
ReplyDeleteFor what good is the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
It will be as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!" (Amos 5:18-19)
Here Amos reminds his readers (and us) that there is no escaping judgment. To try and run away from God is the same as running from a lion and into the path of a bear, only to beat a hasty retreat to one's home, dash inside, close the door and, exhausted, lean one's hand against the wall only to be bitten by a deadly spider. There is no way to escape God. We can't run away from Him. Our only choice, really, is to run toward Him, to throw ourselves upon God's grace and mercy. But in order to do that, we have to give up all of the trappings of religion that we use to keep God at arm's length and embrace the relationship He longs for and calls us to. Are you ready to do that? Are you ready to give up all of the things that separate you from God, whether "good" or "bad," in order to gain the promise of eternal life? When you are ready, you will find the Lord is there, waiting to meet you.
“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;[a] go out to meet him!’ (Matthew 25:6) Christians believe that at some point there will be a "midnight cry," when Jesus will call those who belong to Him home. Now, it may not be at midnight, but there will come a time when we will all be gathered together to spend eternity with the Father. That should provide Christians with two things: a sense of urgency when it comes to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, since that call could come at any moment; a desire to be alert (that is, ready) for that call. Now, there is a sense in which we are already ready, for we have received Christ as our Savior and that is the only preparation which is critical for us to be included in the wedding feast. But Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 4:7 that we should also desire to finish well (" I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith"). We don't want to shamble into the Kingdom with our hands in our pockets and our heads down. We want to be found running toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. How hard are you running today?
ReplyDelete"Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18) This was a promise written by Paul to the church in Thessalonica as the people there struggled with the death of their loved ones. They wondered what would happen to them, since Christ had not yet returned. Paul sought to assure them that, one day, we will all be together before the throne and that those who die in the Lord will be the first to meet Him. This promise helps us to cope not only with death, but all of the other difficulties we experience in life as well. We know the end of the story. We know how things will turn out, and that it will be glorious. As you and I suffer setbacks here on earth, as we struggle and stumble and sometimes fall, we can be certain that better days are coming. When those around us question, reject and sometimes even mock our message, we can be certain that we know the truth and the truth has set us free. What joy and peace this provides to us as we seek to serve our Savior while we await His return!
ReplyDeleteAmen !
ReplyDeleteHappy Sabbath! "Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
ReplyDeleteAnd let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified!” (Psalm 70:4) I'll see you all in a few hours, and together we will magnify the Lord.
Today at the end of this week’s sermon I invited the congregation to think through how they can be on the alert for Jesus’ return. Later on the Sabbath School class that meets to discuss the sermon worked this out. The key is to being alert is to conquer our feelings which lead us to fear, which in turn leads us to foolishness.
ReplyDeleteAmos preached to people whose faith was based on their feelings. In order to be alert, we need to make sure that we pay attention to what we are feeling, setting aside time each day to connect with God and honestly share our feelings with Him. Feelings aren’t “right” or “wrong,” but if they become our main focus our faith is weakened and we can fall into sin. How we feel about our relationship with God has no bearing on our faith. Just because we feel like things are going well, especially because we are “doing” the right things (religion), doesn’t mean we are right with God. By communicating with God we are able to overcome the tendency to dwell in and live by our feelings.
ReplyDeleteThe faith of the Thessalonians was tinged with fear. Though they were faithful in many ways, they fretted about the future. In order to remain alert, we must pay attention to where we are going. Trusting the Lord is something we keep on doing, not something we just do once. We can also remain alert by giving everything to God, rather than holding back or “compartmentalizing” (giving Him some things, but not everything).
ReplyDeleteIn Matthew, Jesus warned His disciples (and us) against a faith that is influenced by “foolishness,” or failing to be on the alert in the here and now because we are too focused on what is to come (and especially our role in the future reign of Christ). In order to remain alert, we have to keep our focus on where we are. We can do that by dealing with things today, rather than ignoring or overlooking them as we wait for some future reward. We are called to follow Jesus every day, as we die to ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.
ReplyDeleteSo that is what our class came up with. What do you think, class members? Did I miss anything? If so, post it here. And what do you think, congregation? What else did you come up with as you considered what it means to be on the alert? Post it here!
ReplyDeleteFor me, the sticking point is to remember God's faithfulness in previous times of feelings, fear, and foolishness. Then, I can draw upon those remembrances to keep me from slipping so low next time. I can remember what he has done during my lowest points, and remember the good that came from those points. Then, I remember that I can trust him now, without letting my feelings, fear and foolishness get the best of me.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent point that Damian introduced during the class. Take a look at how Moses, Joshua, the Psalms, and even Peter during his first sermon used the past as prologue to prepare the people of God to stand firm in their faith. Thanks for reminding me of that today, Damian!
DeleteHebrews 13 shares service that is pleasing to God. We are reminded, I believe, that the cross is our altar and that we are preparing and looking forward to the city that is to come. Le us continue to confess his name.
Delete