Begin with Prayer for the Messiah

Posted: December 3, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Belief, Blamelessness, Christ, Christmas, Community, Disobedience, Fathers, Infertility, Jesus, Marriage, Prayer, Sacrifice, Sermons, Service | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Anybody here ever prayed and it seems like God is doing nothing? It could be an illness that you just can’t shake. It could be a wayward loved one. It could be for a provision of a job or just funding. Maybe it is finding affordable housing? It could be your desire for children or grandchildren. It could be prayer for peace during ongoing conflict. Maybe you have become skeptical of Christianity or even defiant because God has not come through for you?  If any of these things describe your thinking and feelings today, there is hope and there are some people who can relate to you, especially at Christmas time. However, they never stopped praying and neither should we. Let’s read and hear about them in Luke 1:5-25. Read Luke 1:5-25!

It is crucial we understand some background to the story in Luke 1. “Luke’s Gospel is principally about Jesus, but his name does not occur for the first 30 verses and Jesus himself is not born until well into the story.”[1] This is a reminder that prayer and patience create greater anticipation and thus greater potential joy in Jesus. This anticipation is what the Advent season is all about. The Gospel of Luke was written by Luke, a physician, which is another reminder that from the beginning smart and scientific minds have always followed Jesus. They also didn’t keep their beliefs hidden for protecting their profession. Luke writes a letter to a man Theophilus (which means “God lover”) so that Theophilus “may have certainty concerning the things he had been taught” (v. 4). What a reminder that we may believe in Christ and even be considered “excellent” (v. 3) and spiritually mature in our lifestyle by others, but we may have doubts from time to time. We need our faith reinforced by the facts. This is why today’s message is for the doubters, the skeptics, the discouraged, the mature and young in the faith along with the religious and spiritual. I believe it is a message for everybody, especially those who feel forgotten.

Why do I say that? Because this story picks up after 400 years of silence by God. “The people had no prophetic voice from God for 400 years.”[2] The last time God spoke to the people of Israel was in the prophet Malachi’s day. This is extremely important as we talk about prayer. If God had not spoken for 400 years that means there were multiple generations that had been praying and it seemed nothing had happened. But it was worse. For those who have tracked with us earlier this year through the Book of Daniel, you will recall that during that 400 years of silence, the Greek empire was predicted and actually rose to power. One of the Greek leaders was Antiochus IV. Antiochus defiled the Jewish Temple in 169 B.C. by sacrificing an unclean pig on the altar when only clean sheep and bulls were allowed to be sacrificed. Recall Daniel 8:9-11, “Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars threw it down to the ground and trampled on them. It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown!” “The little horn mentioned there is Antiochus IV, the 8th ruler of the Seleucid dynasty.”[3]  “He banned circumcision of the Jews, ended sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem and deliberately defiled the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and placing an object to the Greek god Zeus in the Holy of Holies. He burned the Scriptures and slaughtered those who were faithful to God.”[4] “It was a little more than 6 years from the time when Antiochus IV murdered the Jewish high priest Onias III in 170 B.C. until the time of Jacob Maccabeus’ revolt in 164 B.C.”[5] These 400 years were marked with the Jews being persecuted and then guerrilla warfare in return by the Jews. But there was no message from the Lord. Instead, it would have been like your great, great, great grandparents praying and nothing seemingly happened. And then your great, great grandparents praying and nothing seemingly happens. And then your great grandparents praying and nothing seemingly happened except for a sacrilegious and oppressive leader. And then your grandparents prayed and nothing seemingly happened. And then your parents praying and nothing seemingly happened. 400 years of praying and nothing. So please do not take what I am about to teach us as any type of formula or promise that if you pray, you will get immediate answers and all that you want. This is not a “name it and claim it, blab it and grab it” message. I hate the health and wealth gospel that promises all problems fixed on earth. Such false teaching is fixing our eyes on earth and not Jesus.

And yet, we are called to hope in God and there is always blessing (eventually) that comes with prayer. Some of you need to hear this because you are on the verge of losing hope. Please remember this – the Messiah is coming. He came once when there were corrupt and illegitimate leaders like King Herod as we read about in Luke 1:5. He came when God had been silent. And if the Messiah, Jesus Christ, came the first time, He will come again because He promised He would. He is preparing a place for us where there is no more heartache and prodigals and rejection and sickness and lack of housing and lack of family. There is only blessing. Look at these words from Jesus in John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” What a promise! Don’t lose sight of Jesus. One thing that I haven’t done well is unpack our church’s theme for the year of having our eyes fixed on Jesus. It means a lot of things. When I say, “Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus,” I mean don’t get distracted by sin or comparing yourself to others. Instead, savour Christ as the most important, beautiful person in your life. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means remembering He will come back and we will live forever with Him in the new heavens and new earth that He will recreate. That will mean investing in eternity rather than the temporary. Like what we learned from Matthew 6:19-21 a month ago, our hearts always go where we stare at. This is why when we pray, it should refocus us back on the Messiah. Prayer is how we seek the Messiah. Prayer is how we seek Jesus!

Here is how we can refocus on the Messiah when we are praying. None of these actions will be the magic trick to get God to do what we want. They only put us in the position for God’s grace and blessing. We could call them postures for seeking the Messiah. Here is the first posture for seeking the Messiah: Walk blamelessly! (v. 6) This is what we read in Luke 1:6, “And they (the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth) were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” Before we can move, we need to define blameless. It is a word that has tripped me up before and maybe you too? When I first read the word “blameless,” I confused it with sinless and perfect. I know that there is no one who has not sinned or is perfect besides Jesus, so how could one be called blameless. Then I learned that blameless means that the person may still do wrong, but not intentionally. It has the idea of innocence. One Bible Scholar writes, “Blameless” people are those who cannot be accused of wrongdoing before people or God. When applied to Christians, the quality of blamelessness is both a positional benefit of salvation and a moral character to be achieved. Each person is worthy of accusation in the sight of God. The blameless character of Christians, however, is the intention of God, who “chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight” (Ephesians 1:4). Christ’s love and sacrifice for the church were such that He could present her to Himself “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27).”[6] On a side note, this is why I am shocked when people are so critical of the church and even more shocked at Christ’s restraint. If someone talked about my wife like people talk about Jesus’ Bride, I would have a hard time not using a lightning bolt on them. But we are to walk blamelessly. Blamelessness is a required trait of Elders (1 Timothy 3:2).

How are we to walk blameless? We seek God and His ways in all our relationships. One of those foundational relationships is marriage. Zechariah was blameless in choosing a wife. He wanted someone godly. Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron according to Luke 1:5. Bible scholar Mark Strauss explains, “Marrying a priest’s daughter was considered highly pious.”[7] I’ve used this illustration before to explain how we should seek a spouse. We simply seek Christ and then God brings that person in our life. Imagine you are driving on the 401 highway behind the church. Your destination is heaven (and sometimes you come close to going to heaven while driving on the 401.) As you are going fast down the 401 eyes fixed on Jesus and then a godly potential mate pulls up beside you. You should be going at the same pace towards heaven as you are, maybe even a little faster. You shouldn’t have to slow down or take an exit ramp to find your spouse. They surprised you and don’t distract you because they too are following the Lord and focused on Him. 

Zechariah and Elizabeth were focused on the Lord. Even their names conveyed blamelessness. “Zechariah (“Jehovah remembered”) and Elizabeth (‘God is my oath’) were a godly couple who both belonged to the priestly line.”[8] To walk blameless is to pursue both righteous relationships and righteous rules found in God’s Word. This is why verse 6 helps ground the blamelessness in obeying “the commands and statutes of the Lord.” 

…But walk blamelessly does not mean walking without pain! (v. 7) Look at verse 7, “But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.” In that culture, “Child bearing was viewed as the highest calling for a woman and infertility brought social stigma and shame.”[9] Please let me speak to those who are struggling to have children. We love you and acknowledge that this pain is almost unbearable. May the church family always be a place where you are loved and not judged or treated like second class. This story provides hope that God could do a miracle in giving you a child as He opens and closes the womb no matter how long your struggle, but more importantly, (listen carefully), this story provides hope that in seeking the Lord for a child, you have the opportunity to find the Messiah in a special way. The miracle was only the medium to the Messiah. Our hope and satisfaction cannot be in our kids alone. It has to be in our Christ! The pain is a pathway to discovering Jesus. Not the pathway (that is Buddhist thinking), but pain is a pathway to discovering Jesus. So walk blamelessly! Take that pain to Jesus. I think Zechariah and Elizabeth did. It is a safe bet not because we find this in the text, but because every godly couple wanting a child seeks the Lord in prayer.  “Zechariah and Elizabeth would have been no different and made their lack of children a matter of constant prayer.”[10] Recall, Zechariah kept praying because as his name means Jehovah remembers and Elizabeth kept praying because God was her oath – her commitment. The first posture for seeking the Messiah is to walk blameless. Don’t bail or wane in your belief because God hasn’t answered YET!

The second posture for seeking the Messiah is: 2) Serve sacrificially (v. 8-9). Serve whom sacrificially? The community! This community is first the family of God (Galatians 6:10), but extends to the community you live, work and play in. And when I mean sacrificially, I am not talking just about giving your treasure, thoughts, time and talents. I mean sacrificially with a focus on the Messiah’s sacrifice – trying to turn the conversations to our atonement by God. This is what Zechariah was doing in verse 8-9, “Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.” Zechariah had essentially won the lottery in the draft of priests. This is because there were “Twenty-four orders of priests (1 Chronicles 24:1-19). With such a large number of priests, this privilege might come only once in a priest’s lifetime.”[11] And winning that lottery meant going on behalf of the people and offering a petition to God for the people’s sins. Don’t confuse this with the full-fledged Day of Atonement that only the High Priest performed, but it was significant. Listen to this description by one scholar: “There were, each day, about 50 priests on duty in the Temple. In the early morning, they divided into two groups to make a pre-daylight torchlight inspection of the Temple courtyards. The two groups then met and marched in two columns to the Hall of Hewn Polished Stones where the day’s duties were assigned by lot. The lot was used four times during the day: twice before the gate was opened, and twice after. Choosing by lot prevented personal ego or favoritism from having a part in the selections. The coals of the previous day’s fire still glowed on the altar of burnt offering. A priest, chosen by lot, stirred the fire into fresh flame. Then another lot was taken to designate:

  • Those who were to take part in the sacrifice itself
  • Those in the Holy Place who were to trim the wicks of the golden candlestick (Menorah) and to add oil, and
  • Those who were to prepare the altar of incense

By now, morning had broken and, before the worshippers were admitted, the sacrificial lamb was brought out and inspected for its fitness for sacrifice. It was given water from a golden bowl, and then it was laid on the north side of the altar with its face to the west, as tradition described the binding of Isaac. Then the gates were opened to the people. All of the priests and the people were present as the officiating priest, standing on the east side of the altar, sprinkled the lamb’s blood from a golden bowl on two sides of the altar, below the red line which marked the difference between ordinary sacrifices and those which were to be wholly consumed by fire. In the meanwhile, other chosen priests made everything ready in the Holy Place, where the most solemn of the day’s ceremonies was to take place – that of offering the incense, which symbolized Israel’s prayers being accepted by God. Again, a lot was taken to decide who was to be honored with this highest act of mediation between God and man. A priest could perform this task only once in his lifetime; and after that he was to be called “rich”, leaving to his fellow priests the hope that they would sometime be called upon to do the “incensing”. It was fitting that taking such a lot would be preceded by prayer and confession of their faith on the part of the priests. One of this group of priests was Zechariah, who was more than 60 years old. He had never been chosen to perform the incense ritual before, yet he was well-known in the Temple. Zechariah’s first task was to choose two friends or relatives to help him in the sacred service. Their duties were completely spelled out. The first helper removed what had been left on the altar of incense from the previous evening’s service; then, in prayer, he walked backward away from the altar. (One never was to turn their back on God.) The second helper now came forward and spread live coals taken from that morning’s burnt offering; then he, too, worshipped and retired. As the people and other priests waited outside, Zacharias now stood alone in the Holy Place, lit only by the seven-branched candlestick. In front of him at some distance, toward the heavy Veil that hung before the Holy of Holies, was the golden altar of incense, on which red coals glowed, as near as possible to the Holy of Holies. To his right was the Table of Showbread; to his left was the golden candlestick. Zechariah kept waiting until a special signal indicated that the moment had come. He walked forward and spread the incense on the altar. The priests and the people had reverently moved back from the altar in the courtyard, and prostrated before the Lord, offering unspoken prayer and thanksgiving for God’s mercies, provision, and deliverance, along with petitions for blessing and peace. A cloud of smoke from the incense was beginning to form and move upward in the Holy Place. Zechariah waited until he was sure that the incense was burning well. He would have bowed down in prayer and then reverently left the Holy Place.”[12] The takeaway is this: Take great care in serving God and His people! Serve sacrificially! It is a privilege.

… But to serve sacrificially doesn’t mean you won’t be surprised by God (v. 11-13). Zechariah as we just learned was blessing the nation, but it was God who wanted to bless Zechariah and ultimately the world including us sitting here today. If Zechariah was wearing socks, it would have blown them off. Zechariah was serving sacrificially on one of the biggest days of his life and God had so much more planned for him. I am wondering if some of you think God is a skinflint – that He doesn’t want to give you an amazing gift to serve God’s people – not your own self-fulfillment. Look at verses 11-13, “And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” “John means ‘Jehovah is gracious.’”[13]“Zechariah and Elizabeth weren’t expecting any of this. They were simply devout people going about their regular business serving the Lord.”[14] They walked blamelessly and served sacrificially all the while praying. God noticed! God heard! What if when praying for the immediate, God gives the immense? The immediate meaning temporary atonement and forgiveness of sins when God was giving the immense – the forerunner of the Messiah who would provide forgiveness of sins eternally. 

“The specific content of Zechariah’s prayer is not given, it most likely would have included at least two petitions: Zechariah would have been interceding on behalf of Israel as a nation and apparently also raised a second petition for a child. Zechariah must have prayed for a child hundreds of times over many years and now at last the answer has come.”[15] It was the grace and generosity of God. “Little did Zechariah and Elizabeth know that when God answered their prayers, He would give them, not a priest, but a prophet.”[16]Sometimes serving sacrificially for the community results in God answering us personally that will bless the world eternally. It is not about us!

The third posture for seeking the Messiah is: 3) Believe immediately (v. 18-25)! This is where Zechariah failed and Elizabeth passed the test, which is a reminder that even godly couples are not always at the same pace in their faith. To use the 401 highway analogy again, one spouse may hit the gas when God says, “Go!” and the other spouse, “Might say, ‘What did you say, Lord?’” This is an example of not keeping your eyes on Jesus. Zechariah turned his gaze to his age and his wife’s age (which always gets you in trouble). Look at verse 18, “And Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this?’” Time out! What did the angel just say? Go back to verses 16-17, “He will turn many of children of Israel to the Lord their God and he will go back before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Shouldn’t the news of this miraculous birth have turned the heart of Zechariah, the father-to-be, to his child rather than to being disobedient? Is that too harsh? I don’t think so. I was taught – delayed obedience is disobedience. Gabriel’s response in verses 19-20 proves this true, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and bring this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” After 400 years of silence from God, now Zechariah will be silent himself for 9 months during his wife’s pregnancy. Friends, there are some of us who despite a vision from God and a miracle do not believe immediately. We need more proof! It is time to repent of this unbelief, even if you have walked blamelessly and served sacrificially in the past. “Unbelief is something God does not accept.”[17] It is the unpardonable sin.

Contrast this with Elizabeth. Look at verses 24-25, “After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ‘Thus the Lord had done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” This was Elizabeth going on a long “spiritual retreat to know God better after His answered prayer.”[18] Zechariah and Elizabeth were old when they had John and this means they avoided the suffering of watching their son be jailed and beheaded for providing wisdom for the disobedient. And maybe Elizabeth needed that time alone with God. Maybe you do too? To prepare your heart. You see, “Not only was she to have a son, but the birth of her son was evidence that the Messiah was coming.”[19]

Prayer is placed throughout the lead up to Christ and should for us too! The unrecorded prayers during the silent times. The prayers of the people for forgiveness of sins. The prayers of Zechariah and Elizabeth before, during and after the angel’s announcements. They all led to the Messiah who would take not just Elizabeth’s reproach, but all our reproach on the Cross when He died for our sins. God’s delays are often for His displays of power and salvation. God never is doing nothing. He is always up to something good. Let’s pray! Let’s walk blamelessly, serve sacrificially and believe immediately!            As we conclude, some of you have given up on praying to God because of God’s delays. Maybe after hearing this message you will start back up again? Maybe some of you are the ones delaying. Remember delayed obedience is disobedience and you need to start believing immediately by receiving Christ or getting baptized or getting married or whatever the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do. Others of you need to serve more sacrificially. Still others of you need to spend some quiet time alone with God. This Christmas seek the Messiah in prayer!

[1] Wright, 6.

[2] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition – Volume 1 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), 170.

[3] Edward J. Young, The Prophecy of Daniel (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980), 178.

[4] Iain Duguid, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 1605.

[5] Timothy Paul Jones, The Rose Guide to End Times Prophecy (Carol Stream: Rose Publishing, 2011), 160.

[6] Source: https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/blameless/#:~:text=%22Blameless%22%20people%20are%20those%20who,Then%20will%20I%20be%20blameless%22%20(. Accessed November 30, 2023.

[7] Mark L. Strauss, The NLT Study Bible (Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2017), 1699.

[8] Wiersbe, 170.

[9] Strauss, 1699.

[10] Wiersbe, 170.

[11] Strauss, 1699.

[12] Source: https://www2.gracenotes.info/topics/zacharias.html. Accessed November 30, 2023

[13] Wiersbe, 171.

[14] Tom Wright, Luke for Everyone (London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 7.

[15] Wayne Grudem and Thomas Schreiner, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 1943.

[16] Wiersbe, 171.

[17] Wiersbe, 171.

[18] Strauss, 1699.

[19] Wiersbe, 171.

Forget the Gym, Your Father Makes You Strong

Posted: June 19, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Belief, faith, Family, Fathers, Jesus, Prayer | Leave a comment

I praise and thank God for Emmanuel Baptist Church, Chatham. It was 1979 when my father, Dr. Phil Stairs, and mother, Lelia, who is here today along with most of my family, sensed the call to become the Senior Pastor at Emmanuel. (I find it interesting that my father would have been 81 years old today if he weren’t now home with the Lord and I have the privilege of preaching at a church he served the longest in his 50+ years of ministry.) Thanks for taking a chance on a family from the Maritimes. We moved from Halifax to come to Chatham. I was 5 at the time and for the next 13 years, from Kindergarten at McNaughton Avenue Public School to graduating from Chatham-Kent Secondary School, I enjoyed living in Chatham. Some of my fondest memories in life are from my days in Chatham. Whether it was playing hockey at Northside Arena or playing baseball at what is now Fergie Jenkins field or running track at The Pines. I can’t help to also think about my first job at age 11 when I corn detasseled working for the Gleason’s. It was over 40 degrees Celsius my first day in the corn and I wanted to quit so badly, but I learned perseverance here in Chatham. Emmanuel’s Christian Service Brigade and youth group were also incredibly formative for me as I watched my peers and the classes come after me create a pipeline of pastors. You built into me Emmanuel and I would not be the man or pastor I am today without you. Most importantly, it was at Emmanuel in Mrs. Donna Waggot’s Sunday School class on Easter Sunday 1979, that I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Three years later at age 8, I was baptized. Later on at age 17, it was you who encouraged and affirmed me to pursue becoming a pastor. I praise and thank God for Emmanuel Baptist Church. I want to remind you of the impact you have made and more importantly, I want to remind you that like your namesake, Emmanuel, God is with you! This is why when Eric Van Kestern invited me to preach, I jumped at the chance. It’s always good to thank people for the investment they have made in you. I hope you do that today.

However, I didn’t come to just take you on a trip down memory lane. I came to pray for and with you. What is my prayer for you? My prayer is found in Ephesians 3:14-21! We are going to read that passage in just a moment, but from it comes my prayer for you. My prayer and hope for you is that you would be strengthened by God the Father’s love so that you would be full of Him in your life. On this Father’s Day, whether you are a father or were just created by a father (which is true of all of us). I hope you will be strengthened by the Father’s love and become full of God. What do I mean by being full of God? To be full of God is to be full of His nature and character and that it would overflow to others as we abide in Him. This is true for both the married and single, the young and old, fathers or sons and daughters. Anybody admit to needing more strength? Sure you can go to Planet Fitness, Fit4Less or Performance 360 or some other local or home gym to grow your physical muscles, but there is an inner strength that can only be found in God. Some of us hit the weights hard these past two years when we were stuck at home. Others of us hit the comfort food hard. My belly shows it! But exercise alone won’t save us. I know of one pastor who let Crossfit become an obsession and became ripped while at the same time, his family got ripped apart because of his neglect and not prioritizing them. He lost his family and ministry because he sought a lesser strength. We need an inner strength first. Let’s read Ephesians 3:14-21 and then pray for God to strengthen us right now! Read Ephesians 3:14-21!

How do we get internally strong? The first exercise you and I must do to get internally strong is: 1)Bow your knees before God the Father! (v. 14-15) – Think about that! An external action of what would be considered weakness – getting down on our knees – actually makes internally strong. This is what we read in Ephesians 3:14-15, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” Think about that for a moment. Here we have the Apostle Paul, a guy who used to hate the Church and tried to kill them and now is actually suffering for them. You see, we always need to read things in context meaning the verses that lead up to the verse we are studying. That is a rule whenever we read Scripture and we are pointed to this by Paul’s statement “For this reason,” in verse 14. So for what reason? We could go all the way back to when Paul started in writing his letter to the Ephesians but let’s first focus on Ephesians 3:7-13, “7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of His power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.” So at one time, Paul felt powerless. Though he was in authority and hunting Christians, he could not stop them. In fact, Jesus stopped him. On the road to Damascus to jail and execute Christians, Paul was blinded by a light and vision of Jesus. Paul fell to the ground, surrendered to Jesus and became an apostle and missionary to the Gentiles. His gospel empowered ministry was started on his knees (Acts 9:4-8). It was God’s grace and His gospel that gave Paul power. And it was this grace that Paul was encouraging the Ephesian believers not to lose hope. And it is that same power of God we need. Maybe you have lost hope these past couple of years? They have been rough. Covid! Isolation! Cancer! War! Death! I think of our beloved Chief Ranger Barry Rowe who made such an impact on us, including myself. We see others suffering and we suffer ourselves and we all feel loss. We don’t feel strong. And this is why we must pray.

            And this is why we must bow our knees before God the Father. But that is strange if you think about. How many of you kids or even adults bowed your knee before your fathers today? I bet some of you did some nice things for your dad today or plan to later, but bowing was not one of them. Montreal Church planter Dustin Moreland asks, “Why should we bow before God the Father? Because our Heavenly Father is also the King of the universe.”[1] We bow because our daddy is King! Bowing before your father it is not so strange if your father is a king. Maybe you have seen this on shows like The Crown or Victoria. Royals and heirs to the throne actually bow or curtsy before their parental monarch. We bow because our Abba Father is the King of the universe! This gives us great hope! He is in charge. He is sovereign!

But it begs the question, is God your Father? You won’t bow unless He is. The only way 

for God to become your father is if Jesus is your brother, Saviour and Lord. Jesus can become our brother, Saviour and Lord if we hear the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, and believe in Him and then become sealed with the promised Holy Spirit as Ephesians 1:13 declares. I can’t think of a better day than today, Father’s Day, to become an adopted child of the Heavenly Father. Trust in Jesus today and you will belong to God the Father’s forever family. Jesus will come into your heart and dwell there as Ephesians 3:17 promises. “The verb ‘dwell,’ literally means ‘to settle down and feel at home.’”[2] Jesus will be at home in your life. 

There is no second chance. There is no purgatory. We see this clearly in Ephesians 3:14!

God is the Father of all those in earth and in heaven. This refutes our Catholic friend’s doctrine of purgatory where it is taught some souls are between heaven and earth – up for grabs.[3] No, we are either in heaven or on earth. That is the only two choices! There is only one family of God. God’s forever family! Those in heaven and those on earth. “Holy angels and men, are one holy family joined under the one Father in Christ.”[4] Bow your knees before God the Father in heaven. Maybe you have lost that practice? Bowing is a great posture in prayer as it conveys that you acknowledge who God is in your life – He is your King. I can’t bow for long anymore. Too many sports injuries. But I have a kneeling bench that helps me. Our bowing conveys with our bodies what our hearts are already doing – submitting to God as king!

            How do we become internally strong? We get internally strong by bowing our knees before God the Father! In one word (remember this), bowing! But not only by bowing our knees before God the Father! We also get internally strong if we commit to a second exercise: 2) Comprehend the massive love of Christ (v. 16-19). This is the second exercise to becoming internally strong – comprehend the massive love of Christ. Look at Ephesians 3:16-19 again, “That according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” God gives us His strength to comprehend the massive love of His Son Jesus Christ. We live in a time when our economy is changing. Inflation is increasing at an alarming rate. Housing prices have soared. I’m guessing some of you are new to Chatham because you cashed out from where you were living and now work here remotely or are retired. Some of you may feel rich and some of you may feel poor. But though your feelings are legitimate, they are not your best indicator. The reality is that if you are a believer in Jesus Christ and belong to God’s forever family, you are super-rich, even if your bank account doesn’t show it. Why? Because you have the riches of God’s glory. And those riches not only will take care of your earthly needs, but your internal strength. We need that internal strength, especially in uncertain times. Internal strength is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is Christ’s Spirit who lives inside each of us believers. We “Believers, while on earth, do not experience Christ except as Spirit and do not experience the Spirit except as Christ.”[5] They are two distinct persons, but work together perfectly. Their best work is what they are doing in our hearts, souls and minds. God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are our workout partners in life! They know exactly when to push us to lift more than we ever thought we could as they lift the heavier burden (Matthew 11:28). They also know when to call us to rest (Matthew 11:29-30). They will spot us! This is why our prayers need to be more focused on the internal than the external. The late pastor Warren Wiersbe taught, “Too many of our prayers focus only on the physical or material needs and fail to lay hold of the deeper inner needs of the heart.”[6] I dare you to start praying for God to change your heart. To change your heart about that person who hurt you! To change your heart about the injustice of that lost job! To change your heart about being more generous with your time and money. To change your heart so that God’s love would drive out fear (1 John 4:18)! To change your heart so you judge less and love more. To change your hearts that you would give second chances. To change your hearts to be less preachy and be more teachable. To change your heart from lust to caring for the lost! This is how we become internally strong! We comprehend the massive love of Christ!

            It’s massive, but starts small like the plants we recently put into our gardens – rooted and grounded. But it grows! It grows in breadth, length, height and depth. One scholar puts it this way, “The ‘breadth’ implies Christ’s world-wide love, embracing all men: the ‘length,’ it implies being extended through all ages (Ephesians 3:21); the ‘depth,’ describes how love gives wisdom which no creature can fathom (Romans 11:33); the ‘height,’ promises love is beyond the reach of any foe who may try to deprive us (Ephesians 4:8). Therefore, this massive and unending love provides the whole of the vast mystery of free salvation in Christ for all, Gentile and Jew alike.”[7] Once planted, God’s love continually needs to be nourished. And we do that as we read God’s Word and put it into action in our homes, schools, workplaces and community.

            But remember God never runs out of fertilizer for His love. It is so massive that I wouldn’t believe we could comprehend unless it was promised here in the Bible. In fact, the word that is translated comprehend means “to grasp.”[8] It could be translated, “apprehend.” “A deep encounter with God will enable us to ‘apprehend’ (get hold of) His great love for us, which will result in our being ‘filled with all the fullness of God.’”[9] Anybody here been apprehended? That is what I thought – nobody! I have been apprehended. In fact, I have been apprehended in this very church parking lot and right after youth group. I vividly recall some of my friends had just got back from Florida and had brought back illegal firecrackers. They decided to light them off right after youth group. This was back in the day when youth group was after the evening church service and we were still wearing our Sunday suits. Black cat firecrackers were being set off as fast as my friends could light them. And flying into the parking lot, came a cop car and the cop jumped out of the car and told us all to freeze. We were all told to put our hands on the cop car and we each got frisked. One of my other friends said it caused a laundry problem for him. The firecrackers were confiscated and we were free to go, except for the guilt of having to inform our parents.

            I definitely want to be apprehended by something better than a cop (no offence Eric). I want to be apprehended by the love of Christ. His love has us firmly in His grasp. His love cleans us up and frees us from any guilt we may have. Therefore, spend your time comprehending the massive love of Christ for you. The best way to do that is to reflect on the Cross of Christ and His resurrection. This is what will make you full. His fullness is better than anything else you can fill your life with. “The fullness of God is best explained as His presence and power, His life and rule.”[10] Don’t we want that?

            The first exercise to be internally strengthened is to what? Bow our knees before the Father! The second exercise to be internally strengthened is to what? Comprehend the massive love of Christ! However, there is a third exercise to become internally strong is 3) Believe God to do the unimaginable (v. 20-21).Look at Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen!” Lots of people are looking for power inside themselves. At my wife’s workplace, they had a Staff huddle before a big weekend. The boss said maybe we need a prayer or a cheer. One of her coworkers said, “Let’s do a power pose.” Power poses do not compare to power prayers. It is through prayer that God does far beyond whatever we ask or think. I’ve seen this first hand so many times. One happened just this past Thursday. I heard a story. The story was about Eldon Austin. Eldon and the Austin family invited a neighbor kid to church. That kid’s name was Keith Miles. Keith refused at the time to come to church or Christian Service Brigade, but Keith watched the Austin’s. Keith eventually came to faith in Christ after moving away from Chatham and this past Thursday, I prayed with Keith in our church’s Men’s prayer group. God has used you Emmanuel.

            Emmanuel, I praise God for you! God is with you! Dream again! He can do for you beyond whatever you ask or imagine. But it won’t unless we seek God. This is why is would be wrong of us to just talk about prayer. We need to actually pray – bow, comprehend and believe. Our motivation is Jesus. Jesus bowed before the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. His massive love on the Cross was seen by His outstretched body – the breadth, height, length and depth of His love. And by doing so, Jesus went beyond we could ever ask for or imagine.  So let’s pray! Permit me teach something about praying together as a church. A few years ago, I learned from Daniel Henderson the ABC’s of Public Prayer – pray Aloud (so everybody can hear you), Briefly (so everybody can pray) and Clearly (so everybody can understand you.)[11] And so let’s take just a couple minutes to prayer together by finishing a few of prayers:

  1. Father, we bow before You because …
  2. Father, since our families comes from You, strengthen _______________
  3. Father, through Jesus we come asking You to name something that seems impossible right now in your life

[1] Dustin Moreland, “We Can Rest Because We Are Adopted” Sermon, FEBCentral Pastor’s Conference, Muskoka Bible Centre, June 8, 2022.

[2] Wiersbe, 32.

[3] This insight was brought to my attention by Dr. Wayne Baxter.

[4] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 348). Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[5] Andrew T. Lincoln, Ephesians (WBC) (Dallas: Word Books, 1990), 206.

[6] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Volume 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989, 31.

[7] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 348). Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[8] Wiersbe, 33.

[9] Wiersbe, 31.

[10] Lincoln, 214.

[11] Daniel Henderson, Old Paths, New Power (Chicago: Moody Press, 2016), 127.

Encourage One Another

Posted: November 14, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Abiding, Belief, Confidence, Encouragement, Exhortation, Heart, Jesus, One another, Sermons, Sex, Temptation | Leave a comment

Have you ever had somebody love you enough to exhort and encourage you when you had lost your way? I have. I still remember at age 17 when my best childhood friend, Kirk Groombridge, sat me down and said, “Jon, I notice a change in you and it isn’t good. You listen to a lot of music on the radio that is not honouring to God and it is changing you in how you think and talk.”  His words were used by God to cut me to the quick. I repented and to this day, I pretty much listen to Christian and worship music exclusively. One of life’s greatest blessings is when you have somebody who loves you enough to exhort and encourage you.

The Good News is that Jesus died for your sins so you can belong to a church and this means that you are automatically a part of a community that is charged by God with loving you enough to exhort and encourage you. If you have your Bibles, please turn to or turn on Hebrews 3:12-14. I believe today’s message may prevent us from having a spiritual heart attack or at least prevent spiritual heart disease. As the late pastor Warren Wiersbe has said, “The heart of every problem is the heart.”[1] But God can use exhortation to save and heal us. And we all need this! As Truett Cathy, the founder of Chik-fil-A, once said, “If a person is breathing, they need encouraging.” Let’s read Hebrews 3:12-14 to discover how to strengthen our hearts by exhorting one another. Read Hebrews 3:12-14! 

These 3 verses are a life-saver. Here’s how I would summarize Hebrews 3:12-14. Exhort one another to strengthen your hearts! Exhort one another to strengthen your hearts!  I could just have easily used the word “encourage one another.” Encouragement is the softer side of exhortation, but they mean the same thing in the sense of building courage back into one’s life so they do the right thing. And I want to repeat from last Sunday the words of Johann Wolfgang van Goethe, “Correction does much, but encouragement does more.” And lest you think exhortation is harsh, it should be done with the attitude Jesus taught us in Matthew 7:2, “the same measure you use, will be measured unto you.” As Pastor Rick Warren teaches, “Great people make other people feel great, while little people belittle people.”

 So what do we need to exhort one another in? There are a lot of options, but I want to focus on 3 reasons for exhorting one another today from the text. As our pastors studied this passage together this week, Pastor Jason thought that Hebrews 3:12-14 explains why we should exhort one another. We exhort one another to strengthen our hearts. But what are we strengthening our hearts in? The first strengthening is found in verse 12: Exhort one another to strengthen our hearts in abiding belief (v. 12). “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Notice the exhortation to exhort one another is communal. Take care, brothers. Often we read the Bible as individuals. The readers of Hebrews most likely read this as a group as no one had individual Bibles in that day. And so, these verses were to be read and understood as a group. As some scholars have said, we “ought to be so concerned for the safety of each one member, so no one perishes through our negligence.”[2] To “take care, brothers,” is to literally look out for one another and their hearts. “See to it = watch over each other.”[3] Our hearts are a community project. We are our brother’s and sister’s keeper. We are to become heart specialists of one another. You know how when a person has a heart condition, their loved ones will tell them to take it easy on exerting themselves too much or be careful what they eat. We need to do the same as a church with one another. We need to constantly be telling one another to trust in God for each and every situation and to fight unbelief by what we feed our souls with. Unbelief is a sin in itself because to not believe means that you are left up to yourself to figure out how to live and to figure out your own identity. However, when you believe that God created you and loves you so much that He gave you Jesus to adopt you and for you to belong to His forever family, it fights unbelief. To not believe is evil. It is not good and leads us to wrong actions and falling away from the living God. Is there nothing more scary? “The saddest thing in the world is to see a noble beginning made in the Christian faith and then to have this lost before the end arrives.”[4]

And this is why we need to build courage into one another in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. We need to exhort one another to strengthen our hearts in abiding belief – belief that will last. Belief that clings to God! Falling away from God would be like that cargo ship off the coast of British Columbia that recently lost some of its containers into the sea. The ship almost made it to its destination but lost what it had been carrying. And as we know, it affected a whole bunch of people. I know a local nursery who had Christmas lights in one of those containers and they are now at the bottom of the sea. Your trusting in God affects a whole lot of people. So think about your family, friends or small group right now. Is there somebody you need to remind that trusting God with their problem is better than them trying to fix it on their own? Exhort one another this week. You may stop somebody from having a spiritual heart attack who is the verge of immoral failure.

Not only do we need to exhort one another to strengthen our hearts in abiding belief, but we also need to exhort one another to strengthen our hearts in abiding belief and sincere tenderness (v. 13). Verse 13 urges, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” This verse implies a sense of urgency. Heart issues get priority sequence. I can remember when Lori was late in her pregnancy with our son Noah and she experienced heart racing. As soon as we arrived at the Emergency department and told the triage nurse that she had heart racing, they immediately got her in. She ended up being okay, but it was not something to ignore. We can’t ignore one another. There is a urgent need to be one another’s life daily. Did you notice the words “every day” and as long as it is called “today”? Today is “The day of grace before the coming day of glory and judgment.”[5] Contrast this with tomorrow. “Tomorrow is the day when idle men work and fools repent. Tomorrow is Satan’s today; he cares not what good resolutions you form, if only you fix them for tomorrow.”[6] Spiritual procrastination can be deadly. Our spiritual arteries clog and we are not even aware of it. This is because we become deceived. “The deceitfulness of sin causes us to ‘err in our hearts.’”[7] My dad used to say about some sins, “That was not a sin of the heart, but the head.” In other words, this person’s intentions were good, but their lack of knowledge or misinformation led them to sin. He wasn’t making an excuse, but emphasizing that a sinful heart usually leads to deliberately and willfully sinning. “When a person has an erring heart and a disbelieving heart, the result will also be a hard heart.”[8] There is a “delusive attractiveness of sin,”[9] and only when we get close enough to each other to exhort one another will we remain honest and sincere so that our hearts are tender and soft toward God and the things of God. We will have soft hearts towards people. And a soft heart is a strong heart, not a weak one. Exhort one another to strengthen your hearts in abiding belief and sincere tenderness. If you see somebody who is deceived, go lovingly tell them the truth and if at all possible, go do it in person.

            So exhort one another to strengthen your hearts in abiding belief, sincere tenderness and lastly enduring confidence in Christ (v. 14). Verse 14 makes this clear with a promise, “For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” The writer of Hebrews was saying, we share in Christ presently, but that is only if we continue with our original confidence or belief in Him. That abiding belief is demonstrated in faithful actions that follow His commands, including, but not limited to, exhorting one another. And what do we share in Christ – His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), His inheritance (Romans 8:17), His body (1 Corinthians 10:16), and His blessings (Ephesians 1:3). But we must hold on to that confidence, which is why we exhort one another to strengthen our hearts in enduring confidence in Christ. Exhorting one another will build such enduring confidence.

How do we hold firm our confidence that we had when we first came to faith in Christ? We hold fast to our confidence in the Lord by daily reading and applying His Word (Hebrews 4:11-12), regularly meeting together to encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13; 10:24-25) and confidently praying to God (Hebrews 4:16). Without doing these regular activities, people are left to die of spiritual heart disease and miss out on sharing Christ. Daily prayer and reading God’s Word and regularly meeting with one another will build confidence in Christ.

            We need godly people to speak into our lives. I was going through my late father’s files and found one of the best exhortations I have ever come across. I have read it on several occasions and want to read it to you despite its length. It is from one of America’s most beloved pastors Chuck Swindoll. He once wrote to his congregation, “I can’t seem to get past the subject I wrote about recently. When issues like this don’t leave my mind, there’s a reason. Perhaps it’s the Lord prompting me to go back and dig deeper. Who knows? There may be someone dancing dangerously near an inappropriate or illicit relationship and something I write may be all that’s needed to call a halt to further involvement. I’m referring to an adulterous or otherwise impure sexual liaison which, if not stopped, will spell the ruin of another precious soul. You may be that ‘someone.’ If so, listen to the following very carefully. To begin with, from all those I have confronted, dealt with or heard about who have fallen into sin, two paths led them astray. The first subtle deception. This is an almost passive series of thoughts which include rationalization, ignoring the warnings of a sensitive conscience, the consistent erosion of one’s walk in Christ, and tolerating things that were once intolerable. Webster says that ‘deceive’ means ‘to make a person believe what is not true: delude, mislead.’ It implies ‘deliberate misrepresentation of facts by words or actions … to further one’s ends.’ Pause a moment and think that over.

            The Scriptures include direct warnings against deception. In fact, we are frequently commanded not to be deceived: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 commands, ‘Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.’ 1 Corinthians 15:33 warns, ‘Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ And then there is Galatians 6:7-8a, ‘Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption.’ And 1 John 1:8 warns, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  Interestingly, nearly all those warnings about being deceived are found in a context of sexual and or moral impurity. The beast within us feeds on deception. As long as we can convince ourselves that what we are doing is not all that wrong, we have no difficulty proceeding into further perilous territory. Infidelity occurs in the head long before it happens in the bed.

            Second, there is the path of deliberate action. Once the mental roadblocks start getting cleared away, the excitement of ‘stolen waters’ becomes sweet to the transgressor’s taste. Make no mistake about it, the pleasures of sin – those erotic excursions into secret experiments with forbidden escapades – are both enjoyable and stimulating. The flesh loves such encounters. They may only yield temporary delights, but they are enough to make one’s carnal appetites crave more. This, then, calls for more aggressive action as that built-in curiosity pleads for further involvements, which, in turn, pushes the person to become increasingly bolder, and usually more bizarre.

            Again, God’s Word addresses the issue head on in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20: “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.” Flee means just that. Get out! Refuse! Keep a safe distance! Stop all movement toward lust. Guard the temple! Like Joseph in the Old Testament, run away and run like mad in the opposite direction. Don’t let yourself get cornered. Counteract those weak and vulnerable places in your psyche by taking practical steps of resistance. That includes being tough on yourself by not allowing ‘even the appearance of evil’ to occur. Too strict? Not according to Paul, who once testified ‘I buffet my body and make it my slave’ (1 Corinthians 9:27).

            There may still be a few who remain unconvinced. If you are one of them, you may find yourself in a compromising situation and, to be frank about it, not ready to call a halt to something that seems tantalizingly appealing. For you, especially, I dedicate the balance of my comments. They have to do with the consequences you probably haven’t thought through sufficiently. Temptations are usually softened by emotional narcotics that numb the harsh reality of pain awaiting the sinner at the end of the road.

            Before listing several of the inevitable consequences you’ll have to face and endure as soon as your secret sins are exposed, let’s return to a few pertinent Scriptures. They are to the point, therefore they will sting. But that will help get your attention, hopefully. Whatever you do, don’t excuse sinful behaviour by claiming you are ‘addicted’ or ‘victimized.’ Sure you may have been abused, but those terms only help you escape responsibility. Galatians 6:7-8 commands, ‘Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Take heed to Hebrews 13:4, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” And please don’t forget Proverbs 6:27-29, 32-33, ‘Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished … He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. Wounds and dishonour will he get, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.’

            Corruption. God’s judgment. Calamity. Burned. Scorched. Punishment. Wounds and disgrace. Reproach. Are those exaggerations? You decide. The following is an incomplete list of what you have in store after your immorality is found out:

  • The total devastation your sinful actions will bring to your children is immeasurable. Their growth, innocence, trust and healthy outlook on life will be severely and permanently damaged.
  • The embarrassment of facing other Christians, who once appreciated you, respected you, and trusted you, will be overwhelming.
  • If you are engaged in the Lord’s work, you will suffer the immediate loss of your job and the support of those with whom you worked. The dark shadow will accompany you everywhere … and forever. Forgiveness won’t erase it.
  • Disillusionment and anger will spread rapidly among those to whom you once ministered.
  • Your fall will give others perceived license to do the same.
  • Your mate will immediately be isolated by most of those who once stood near. Guilt, shame, and rejection he or she is sure to feel will accompany the anguish of loneliness. No amount of repentance will soften those blows.
  • The inner peace you enjoyed will be gone. The blessings that once accompanied your pure heart, also gone.
  • You will set in motion a generational chain reaction. You won’t be able to stop it, no matter how hard you try.
  • The heartache you will cause to your parents, your family, your peers, your mentors, and your disciples will be indescribable.
  • You will never be able to erase the fall from your or others’ minds. As Solomon wrote your ‘reproach will not be blotted out.’ This will remain indelibly etched on your life’s record, regardless of your later return to your senses.
  • The name of Jesus Christ, whom you once honoured, will be tarnished, giving the enemies of the Faith further reason to sneer and jeer.
  • Your mate will feel betrayed and can never again say that you are a model of fidelity. Suspicion will rob her or him of trust.
  • Your escapade(s) will introduce to your life and your mate’s life the very real probability of a disease.

Solomon was right, ‘The way of the transgressor is hard.’ Forgiveness may come. The affair(s) may end. Restoration to fellowship may occur. But these consequences will not go away … and I have named a few.

            In closing, a few words of encouragement to those who have not fallen. What can be done – what mustbe done – to keep us from slipping into secret sins? Admittedly, anyone can fall … but no one has to. These four actions will help.

  1. Keep reassuring your life’s partner. Be willingly accountable and open. Express your commitment … say so!
  2. Cultivate the intimacies of your marriage. Work on being creative and sensitive romantic partners. Keep those hugs, kisses and other private, sincere demonstrations of affection. Save your very best for the one you promised to love and honour.
  3. Intensify purity in your private world. Don’t play around with sexual things. Keep no secrets. Guard yourself from hidden lusts.
  4. Be absolutely honest. Refuse to allow yourself to live behind a mask. Tell the truth. If you’re weakening, call for help.

In God’s scheme of things, it always boils down to the same simple formula: TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES. Know the truth, love the truth, obey the truth, live the truth, speak the truth … or suffer the consequences.[10]Or as another pastor has said, but did not heed his own words, “Choose to sin, choose to suffer.”[11]

            But exhorting one another is like a spiritual cardio workout. And so, I want us to engage in a spiritual cardio workout together right now. The ushers are passing out cards right now for you to write an encouragement card to one another. You can write to somebody here or somebody not here that God puts on your mind. If the person is here, you can give it to them today or if you want to wait, the cards are postcard size and you can drop them in the mail as getting snail mail is fun once again. Also, we have other encouragement cards at the Welcome Centre that can be used in the future or to let us know if you haven’t seen anybody for awhile. This is our attempt to live out and provide “one another” care. Exhort one another to strengthen your hearts in Christ!

[1] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Volume 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), 288.

[2] Robert Jamieson, Andrew Robert Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Glasgow: William Collins, 1871). 

[3] Richard C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James (Columbus: Wartburg Press, 1946), 117.

[4] Lenski, 121.

[5] Jamieson, Fausset and Brown.

[6] Jamieson, Fausset and Brown.

[7] Jamieson, Fausset and Brown.

[8] Wiersbe, 288.

[9] William L. Lane, Word Biblical Commentary – Hebrews 1-8 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1991), 87.

[10] Charles R. Swindoll, Newsbreak, Volume 12, Number 23, June 14-20, 1992, First Evangelical Free Church, Fullerton, California.

[11] James McDonald.