Sermon in Minneapolis 18.01.2009

Amen. With that continuing prayer of heart that the Heavenly Father would yet bless us with His Word, I will read in continuation of our services from one of the epistle texts for this day found in the first chapter of Titus, the first three verses. And the words are as follows in Jesus' name.

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began, but hath in due times manifested His Word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the command of God our Savior.

Amen.

In the beginning, brothers and sisters, many loving greetings from your fellow travelers there in Colorado. We were able to come this weekend for the birthday celebration of our mother. And many there wished that their greetings would be relayed up here to this part of our country. To you, brothers and sisters, and sisters in living faith.

It's always easy, very easy to come back to this part of the country and this place of my birth and with so many loved ones and family. It's always very fun and special, no matter how many trips a guy makes, to come and share and spend a few days here in your midst.

This day, on the church calendar, many of the texts we've heard already this evening, through our dear brother, it speaks about the divine nature of our Savior, Jesus Christ. One portion of God's Word has been very close to me recent days when we've only recently celebrated Christmas and the events of Christmas, and even after. And that is the fulfillment of the promise that God had of sending His own beloved Son into this world.

I have thought often of that Simeon and Anna, and how when Christ finally came, the hearts of those children of God who had waited and waited and waited for His coming, finally happened, and oh, how the children of God rejoiced.

I have thought much recently of the journey of the individual believer. I have thought of the work of this kingdom, of which God has so graciously allowed us this time. A time to live personally, but also collectively in the work. A rich time that we're living. And how we have seen in many different ways how God has so not only perfectly cared for us, but has allowed the Word and His work to go forward.

During the day and the time that we live. We live in a very, very special time. There are those times that I have wondered, and I have even read from scriptures as you have, and wondered and even prayed that how do I know that the kingdom in which we are living is the correct kingdom? It was often very close to my thoughts during the time of the heresy and after, that how do we know that the kingdom that we're living is the right kingdom? There are many who profess to have the understanding and teaching of the Bible. So how do we and how would we know?

God's Word says that the first fruit of faith is love. And I think this is the most obvious and evident way in this that the love of God has joined the children of God together seamlessly. And the desire, as we already heard this evening, is that the Word would go forward and to call family, loved ones, neighbors, fellow countrymen into this precious kingdom. Wouldn't it be such a great matter if all could one day believe?

We also know that this is not according to God's Word, however. God's Word says that many are called, but few are chosen. So the Word that we have been left with us, that has been left with us, of which also here the Apostle Paul has reminded Titus, that hath in due times manifested His Word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the command of God our Savior. That Word of God has been given to His children here to use and to preach.

How important is that Word? That Word is, of which we already heard, is that Word that gives life. The Word gives instruction.

We recently, there in Colorado, we were studying, and we have studied from the Old Testament time, of the Old Testament believers. And I would like to say they are our brothers and sisters in living faith. Too often I read from the Old Testament and I think that, oh, this was some far-gone era in time. And they must have been somewhat different. They lived in a different time. But they are as we are. They struggled. They dreamed. They hoped. They sinned. But there were ways, then as now, where they can have a new life. Where they can have their sins forgiven and have hope of eternal life.

But when we read from those Old Testament travel friends, we find a lot of very comforting words for us. That we who live in this day would have great reason for hope. We are on the way to heaven. And we are, we are only, as many of the older people have said, that we are only one breath away from eternity.

Sometimes, especially when we're younger, we think differently. Sometimes we think that the journey is going to be long. And we are going to have ample opportunities and possibilities to live this life and to live our days. But we really don't know. How long are our days, do we?

Today we celebrated my mother's 70th birthday. By all accounts we would say that 70 is a year we have been celebrating. We celebrate the 70th day in our lives. The day of the blessed is a rich life. But we don't know as to how long this life might last.

Maggie and I had an opportunity to experience this many years ago when our daughter of two months old died. She never woke in the morning. Those kinds of experiences, and as we spoke with one, visited with one sister this morning in Colorado, how quickly the life that we live can end.

So we have then this word of which God has left with us to use. We speak of God's word in general terms. Of course, the Bible is very rich and it's in abundance. In the beginning of the Bible, it speaks of creation. And in the book of Revelations, it often speaks of heaven. And between the two, between those words and between those chapters, there's many words of instruction that are given. Many important points from history and doctrine.

So God's word is very big and very rich. There's much of God's word that I don't understand at all. But I only tip my head and say that it is God's word. It is good. But I don't understand it. Hopefully some other brothers or sisters do.

But there's also a part of God's word that is very clear and very simple. And that is that which has been entrusted to the children of God to preach. And the central message of God's word is the forgiveness of all sins in the name and precious blood of Jesus. This is central to all of God's word. It is the promise of Christ in the early pages of the Bible and that promise that is there spoken of in the last pages of the Bible there in heaven.

And it is of this which the Apostle Paul understood that he was given to preach and to teach. But remember Paul, he was that one that was an unbelieving man of the Pharisees. And he was called into this kingdom to be a very important worker.

What did Paul teach? He taught and preached the same that we hear in God's kingdom today. It is that same preaching of which John the Baptist preached. It is that teaching of Christ and he crucified. And this is what is important for us, isn't it?

It is important, of course, that we study from history and that we learn of what those former saints have done. It is important that we consider all of those things of which God has left us in his word. But what is it that is so central?

One very, the precious brother told me one time he was a college student, university student. And he went to classes daily and he came home on the weekend. And there he spent the weekend at home before he returned back to school for another week.

And he told me that, Eric, it is important that at the preaching and at the sermon and the services of God's children, that don't ever forget to preach that the sins are forgiven in the name and blood of Jesus.

He says, I listen to the wisdom of my scholars daily and weekly. And he says, and I try to learn of those great wonders that were being taught. He says, but I wait at the services of God's children to hear one very, very special message. And that is this, that dear child, your sins are forgiven in the name and precious blood of Jesus.

I thought of this and I thought that it is the same for me. That this is what I am fed by, that gospel. Because I have felt so closely how quickly the restlessness of my own heart and my own mind has been taken away.

And I have felt that I am ventures far away from the simple teaching of God's word. I sometimes even sit at services and worry of the coming weeks work and ponder the events of the life that is going on around me.

I sometimes wonder that what will my children and what will my grandchildren encounter in this life? And how quickly it is that my mind is drawn far away from the simple teaching of God's word.

And I think of this is what here the Apostle Paul understood closely. When he was not only called into this precious kingdom, but he was also given the power to do a job. And that was to preach that word of God that had been committed to him according to the command of our Savior.

But even before this, when we consider these words, here Paul says that he was a servant of God, he was an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness.

But here he continues and says that in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. In hope of eternal life.

How can we with the eyes of man that are limited to see a certain distance? Although we can see far away. We can see miles and miles I'm not sure according to science how far man can see. At home in Colorado it seems like you can see many, many, many miles when you look off into the distance and see those mountains looming on the horizon.

But there is a limit to what man can see. There is no limit to what God can see. God has created He has created all things and with God He created all things in eternity. There is no distance or time to God. But for God all things are in front of Him.

We see as the Apostle says here through a glass darkly. We can only see bits and pieces. But we can see much better when we look behind us. We can read and experience from history of those things which we have encountered.

We cannot see at all what tomorrow is going to bring. On the other hand our Heavenly Father knows tomorrow. He created tomorrow. And so these things for God are already seen.

So when we speak of this eternal life that is to come how can we comprehend these things?

I was given not long ago a task for one of the camps down in the southwest. The title of the presentation was well the camp theme was the joy of a believer. And we spoke of the joy and trust. We spoke about the trials. We spoke about the joy and blessings.

My job my presentation was to do was on the joy in knowing that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And it was a very interesting study. And not so much a study but a study of the pondering these matters.

That what is eternity? Luther writes that eternity is like a bird that flies to the highest mountain and he pecks at that mountain and that bird returns. And then in a thousand years that bird returns to that mountain and pecks on that mountain again and returns.

This is repeated every thousand years. And sooner or later that mountain wears down. But Luther said this is not eternity.

So we begin to realize very quickly how little we can comprehend about eternity. But brothers and sisters there's a home there. And that home in eternity waits for God's children.

So what is this home? When I was younger I would read from the book of Revelations and I would read about that city that New Jerusalem. And I would read about that city and I would read of the gold and streets and all of the jewels that were used to create that city.

And as a young man and still to this day it remains that my flesh is still attracted to the riches of this world of course. I would like to be wealthy and rich. That's my flesh.

But as I've grown older there is a matter that has been closer than these kinds of riches. The beauty of that city seems less important now to me than it once did.

What seems more important to me and what I read from the book of Revelations that speaks about how there in that eternal home in heaven it will be God himself who will wipe away all tears from our eyes. And there he will give us a place of rest.

Have you tired? Have you struggled with your brothers and sisters on this endeavor? Have you felt your own weakness and your own sinfulness? This is that which I've felt so closely. And there is that heart that yearns one day to be able to go there to that place of eternal rest.

God in this infinite wisdom has created such a place for his children. And the apostle says in this text that we live in hope of eternal life. Which God that cannot lie has promised.

And this evening brothers and sisters it is this promise that God has laid before us there on the eternal shore of heaven for those of him that love him. Do you love God?

I have even asked my question myself this question many times and I've also asked my children this question in visiting with them. That do you love God?

If we were to ask the little ones they would say of course we love God. I would even answer that myself that of course I love God.

But sometimes in life I think we need to really ask ourselves that do we love God? And I think we would all answer that if there is faith in our heart then there is also the love of God there as well.

There is one portion of God's word that says when speaking of this matter of serving two masters it says that we will love one and hate the other. It is impossible that we can love two masters. We cannot have this kind of heart.

The apostle Paul then writes of the many different kinds of love. And we know that our flesh is drawn so closely to those things of this world.

I especially speak to the beloved young brothers and sisters children. The world offers many things many temptations and he uses a very beautiful picture to entice our thoughts and our minds to that place of which he has painted such a glorious picture.

And I think all of us would say that there have been those points in our life where we have pondered and been faced with this question that are we going to leave or are we going to remain as a child of God.

I remember one such time when I was visiting with one of my boys. The temptations of the world had come very close for him. And I asked him that question that do you love God?

And he wanted to answer real quickly that of course I love him. And he caught himself and pondered that question more. And he said it feels now as if my heart has been divided between the love of this kingdom and the love of this world.

And when he considered this matter God was able to open to him of where he had been and what he had been doing. And he wanted then to hear for his sins that he had been living in could they be all forgiven in the name and blood of Jesus.

Each one of us have faced this kind of fork in the road at some point. And it doesn't necessarily mean only the younger ones. But this question can be asked and raised many times in our lives.

What is this reward that waits in heaven? And is it worthy of the endeavor of this faith?

The Apostle Paul, I think he understood as well as any of this joy that waits in heaven. We ask ourselves this evening, brothers and sisters as well, that is it worth the endeavor? It is worth the endeavor.

Luther also speaks of this matter when he says that if any one of us could really know what heaven is, we would be willing to do many things to gain that reward.

Luther uses something from his day when he said to this extent that he would be willing to take the beating of many leaders of his time. He said that if we truly were able to comprehend what this life in heaven was like, we would be willing to do many, many things.

So how do we, brothers and sisters, acknowledge or know what this heaven is? Through the eyes of faith, this evening, we can see, through the eyes of faith, a glimpse of heaven that waits. And it is only through the eyes of faith that we can see.

This is so important then, that we keep this faith as important and very dear to us. If this faith then starts to dim, the glory of heaven starts to fade.

I have felt this so closely myself personally, that when we start to walk with a divided heart, and the enticements of the world start to come close, or our mind we start to question, that is this worthy, this endeavor, how quickly then the goal is diminished, and we start to look rather to the journey that we are on, instead of the goal.

And I think that this is a very important thing, and I think that we should be more careful about the journey that we are on, instead of the goal. The goal is important, because then the goal is this, that we would struggle and strive for that which is there waiting for us in eternity.

So I think that this word that has been left with us for this day, in this text, speaks so closely to that, that we look toward that hope of eternal life, with the hope of the journey that we are on, and that we are on, and that we cannot lie, promised before the world even began.

If God has promised, He cannot lie. So why then, beloved brother and sister, do we doubt?

This evening, as you've come to the services of God's children, I'm sure there are those of you who have questioned and have doubted your own faith. There are those of you who would look to your spouse, or to your child, or to your friend, and if you were to answer this question, do you think he or she is on the way to heaven? You would say, of assurity, that is a dear brother, and that is a dear sister.

But I ask you, dear travel friend, what would you say of your own journey? Have you been so bold to say that, yes, it is so, that my name is there recorded in the last book of life? Or have you felt with me that question at times, and doubt that it is possible that there is that kind of place there in heaven waiting for me?

Remain this evening with full assurance in your heart that as you find yourself this evening, at the end of this day, you are one of God's own. Remain believing this, dear brother and dear sister. Your sins are all forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atoning blood.

This is from the youngest to the oldest, the littlest girls and boys, to the oldest grandmothers and grandfathers. God will not and cannot lie. Your name is there recorded. When you are believing, your sins are forgiven.

How simple is the teaching of God's kingdom? May it be that this teaching can always remain so simple. I think this is part of the reason why God, even as we've grown older, has allowed some of us to have grandchildren. Because those grandchildren can teach us so perfectly of these matters.

So often, at services, those little ones will simply say, sins forgiven, Jesus' name and blood. This is how they are fed, and they remind us, older ones, as we begin to struggle on this journey of the joy that waits there in eternity for us.

May God's word always remain for each of us precious and dear.

When Luther spoke about heaven, he used this analogy as well. He said, as little as I knew of my life, and what it was going to be, as a little child there nursing on my mother's breast, I even know less about what heaven is like.

We don't know of what our life is like. Our life will be tomorrow. So neither can we completely comprehend what heaven is. But God's word is true and with promise, brothers and sisters. There is a place that waits there for those of whom God has called and chosen.

This is such a precious matter.

This evening, however, I find myself even in the midst of these things doubting and questioning because of my own sinfulness that would there be a place there for such a sinner. Can I be reassured of that precious gospel?

I promise to believe with each of you and we can even go to the rest this evening with such a confidence in our heart that as our Father has given us life to this day and he has so preciously carried us into his kingdom and has guided us day by day. He won't forsake us, beloved brothers and sisters, but he will carry us to the very end.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Let us quieten in 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, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen.