The Storms of Life

Luke 13:1-5 “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

The heart-breaking events of this week remind us of how very fragile life truly is! Over 300 people died this week in an outbreak of tornados that devastated cities and towns from Texas to the Carolinas. It is impossible to understand the level of grief felt by those who lost loved ones, friends, and property on a massive scale.

One of the towns where at least ten people were killed and massive damage occurred was Ringgold, Georgia, where I pastored my first Church and where Pat Pajak was our Music and Youth Director. The Cherokee Valley area, where the church was located, was very heavily damaged by the storm.

In the passage in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus uses two very well-known tragedies to make a solemn point. First, He uses a famous crime where Pontius Pilate had ordered the murder of a group of Galileans who were holding a worship service and he ordered that their blood be mixed with the blood that they were offering on the altar. The second illustration is that of a famous accident where a tower fell on eighteen people killing them. The Tower of Siloam was likely the tower by that name that was part of the Temple wall.

From these awful events, Jesus teaches them (and us) three very important lessons:

First, you do not have to be an evil person for bad things to happen to you. Second, it is wrong to assume that someone is being punished by God when bad things happen to them. Third, we dare not think that we are exempt from the tragedies of life because we know and love the Lord!

Each of these were very common mistakes in Jesus’ day, and they remain so in our day! It is not unusual to hear someone opine about the “judgment of God” or some similar terminology to attempt to explain that which cannot be explained.

Anyone can become a victim of a crime whether that crime is perpetrated against them by an individual or by a government. Anyone can become the victim of an accident. The point is simple. “Prepare to meet your God.” (Amos 4:12) Since we do not when the Lord may return, or when we may go to Him; it is wise to live in constant readiness to stand before Him.

The only way to be ready is to repent of your sins and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Repentance is the missing link to saving faith and the absence of genuine repentance is why so many who think they know the Lord because they have done something like praying a prayer or being baptized (or whatever religious thing they did) are still lost in their sins.

Beloved, if you want to be sure you are ready to meet God, be sure that you have truly repented of your sins!

Please be in prayer for the families of those people who have been killed in these awful storms. Pray for those who lost much and those who have lost all. Pray for those who are assisting them, and pray for those who a attempting to minister the gospel to them. Pray that the Lord will bring many to saving faith through these tragic circumstances.

If you would like to give toward the relief efforts, let me know and I can tell you the most efficient way to get the help to those who need it.

Application: Since no one is exempt from the tragedies of life, we must live our life in such a way that we and our families are ready for whatever may come our way.

Prayer: Father, bless these dear hurting people. Bless those who are ministering to them in Your Name. Teach us what You would have us to learn and use our resources to bless them. Amen.

Luke 24:1-12

1 "But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."
8 And they remembered his words,
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,
11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened."

Spurgeon on the Meaning of the Cross!

The whole of the tremendous debt was put upon his shoulders; the whole weight of the sins of all his people was placed upon him. Once he seemed to stagger under it: “Father, if it be possible.” But again he stood u upright: “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” The whole of the punishment of his people was distilled into one cup; no mortal lip might give it so much as a solitary sip. When he put it to his own lips, it was so bitter, he well nigh spurned it—”Let this cup pass from me.” But his love for his people was so strong, that he took the cup in both his hands, and

“At one tremendous draught of love
He drank damnation dry,”


for all his people. He drank it all, he endured all, he suffered all; so that now for ever there are no flames of hell for them, no racks of torment; they have no eternal woes; Christ hath suffered all they ought to have suffered, and they must, they shall go free. The work was completely done by himself, without a helper.

-”Justification by Grace,” delivered on April 5, 1857, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

HOLY WEEK

According to the ESV Study Bible, the events of Holy Week were:

Sunday: Jesus weeps over Jerusalem
Crowd comes to see Jesus
Triumphal Entry
Curses the Fig Tree

Monday: Jesus cleanses the Temple
Returns to Bethany with the Twelve
Disciples see the withered Tree

Tuesday: Controversies in the Temple area
Olivet Discourse on the way back to Bethany
Continues teaching in the Temple

Wednesday: Continues teaching in the Temple
Sanhedrin plots to kill Jesus

Thursday: Passover / Lord’s Supper
Upper Room Discourse
Prays in the Garden
Betrayal and Arrest
Trial before Annas
Trial before Caiaphas and some of Sanhedrin

Friday: Roman trials before Pilate, Herod, and back to Pilate
Crucifixion
Burial

Sunday: Resurrection
Empty Tomb witnesses
Post-resurrection appearances

As we think of these events, we will take four specific opportunities to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord this week:

On Thursday at 7pm, we will meet in the Old Sanctuary of our Church for a Maundy Thursday Service. We will pray, sing, read Scripture, and take the Lord’s Supper together!

On Friday at 7pm, we will meet at the Kaskaskia Country Club near Arcola to be part of a multi-Church Good Friday Service. There will be prayer and singing, Scripture reading, and a message by Pastor Mike Wilder who is planting the new church in Arcola.

On Sunday at 9am, we will gather for Sunday School...

and then at 10am we will then have our annual Easter Service! I hope that you will be in special prayer all this week that the Lord will lead several people who do not normally attend church to this service. Pray that He will speak to them and call them to salvation.

We will not have any services at the church on Sunday evening.

Here I stand, I can do no other!

Jude 3-4 “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

On this day in 1521, Dr. Martin Luther stood before the Diet (Legislature) of Worms, Germany and defended his 97 Thesis and his theological writings!

Dr. Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk living in Wittenberg, Germany when he was saved while studying the book of Galatians! He began to think through the many errors of the Roman Church and finally posted a list of 97 complaints on the door of the Church.

As these “97 Thesis” were read and copied and distributed among the people of Germany, a groundswell of support began. This, of course, caught the attention of his superiors in the Roman Church and they began efforts to silence him.

The ultimate test was his trial and testimony before Emperor Charles V and Johann Eck, the Papal Inquisitor. Luther was beloved by Fredrick the Elector, who was to be used of God to save Luther’s life by having him “kidnapped” and taken to a safe place to study and continue his writings!

It was at this trial on April 16, 1521 that he gave his defense and uttered the immortal words, "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."

While we have much with which we disagree in the theology of Dr. Martin Luther, we owe him much for his faithfulness to stand at the risk of his life to correct the false teaching and moral corruption in the Roman Church! May it please the Lord to help us be as faithful to stand up against false doctrine and moral corruption – especially among those who profess to be believers – as was this man. May God grant us another, and much needed reformation today!

Prayer: “God of our Fathers, bless us this day with conviction and courage to stand for what we know to be true. Guide us into truth and give us the grace to share it, defend it, and if need be, die for it. May You use us to change our Nation the way You used Martin Luther to change his. Amen.”

Application: Will we share that truth once delivered to the saints?

Responding to Persecution

Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

On this date in 1892, Corrie Ten Boom was born in the Netherlands. She and her family were arrested during WWII by the Nazi’s for hiding Jews in their home. While she survived, most of her family died in the concentration camps during the war.

She travelled, spoke, and wrote extensively about her life after the war, and her biography, “The Hiding Place” was later made into a motion picture. Her testimony of the transforming power of the love of God is an inspiration to everyone who also loves the Lord.

Possibly her most famous quote is, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still!” You can learn much more about her at www.corrietenboom.com.

While many of us may have been persecuted on some level for our faith in Christ by family, friends, co-workers, or employers; we are just beginning to see what the future will be like in an America that hates Christ and Christians. Already today, it is not merely acceptable, but much welcomed, to be anti-Christian.

I fear that much more persecution of Christians is coming to America! Those of us my age may not feel the brunt of it, but I fear for my children and grandchildren. I believe that it is urgent that we raise them in the fear and nurture of the Lord to prepare them for the difficult years ahead for them.

We are often told that persecution purifies the Church. I have no doubt that this is true, but that does not mean that I welcome the onset of such treatment of our Lord, His Name, and His people. Oh, that we might seek to be purified by God’s Word and His Spirit without being put through the fires of persecution!

Sadly, real revival does not appear on the horizon. We have come to a time in America where in many, many Churches, (and in some cases, across entire denominations) you are hard pressed to find more than a handful of Bible-believing Christians. No wonder the Church appears so impotent and evil seems to prevail.

Prayer: “Father, I pray that You will glorify Yourself in us. If it be Your will that great persecution comes upon the Christians in America, please use it to purify Your Church. If it be Your will, we plead that You will grant us revival… that we might reach the lost and disciple Your people. Amen.”

Application: When real persecution comes, (and it is coming) will we stand up for Jesus?

An Appointment no one will miss!

Hebrews 9:27-28 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

On this date in 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States, died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Warm Springs, Georgia. FDR was born on January 30, 1882 and was the only man in U.S. history to have been elected President more than twice.

I often think about the words of one of my favorite hymns, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” by Isaac Watts. In this great work, he writes, “Time, like an ever rolling stream, Bears all its sons away; They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the opening day.”

One of the realities of Pastoral ministry is being involved in lots of funerals. While it is always a privilege to be asked to speak at such a service, the serious nature of our appointment with death causes me to think deeply about what I will say to the family and friends who gather together. I almost never prepare for a funeral sermon without the words of this song going through my mind.

For the believer, this appointment marks the beginning of a truly joyous existence in the presence of Christ. Even those of us left behind at the passing of a loved one who trusted in the Lord are comforted by our certain knowledge of their eternal joy.

Most people do not know when they will go into the presence of God. We think and plan ahead as if we have all of the time in the world. I pretty much have an idea of what I will be doing for the next nine years as I lead our Church to accomplish the 20/20 Vision that the Lord has put before us. Often, when I think about what it will take to accomplish this work, I think about the fact that I may very well be kidding myself that I will be around to see it come to pass!

One day, someone will be thinking about what to say at my funeral. I hope they will remind my family and friends that all of us have an appointment with God for which we will not be late!

Prayer: “Father, thank You for the gift of this life, and the hope of the life to come. As we consider this sobering fact, let us put our faith in Your Son as our only hope of salvation. May we see that glorious day when all of your people surround Your throne and praise Your holy Name. Amen!”

Application: Are you ready to meet the Lord?