The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - October 22, 2023

The Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 45:1-7, is an amazing prophesy of the coming of Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire, long before he was even born. “For the sake of My servant Jacob and Israel, My chosen,” God says that He will “anoint” and raise up Cyrus and “go before” him, so that he could easily conquer Babylon and then set God’s captive people free from the Babylonians to return to Israel. The Lord could predict and plan to do all this, long before it happened, because He alone is God. “There is no other,” and He is God for people “from the rising of the sun to the west” - for all people.

The Psalm is Psalm 96:1-9 (10-13). The psalmist calls upon “all the earth,” “all the peoples” “among the nations” to “sing a new song” to the Lord. He is to be “greatly praised” because He “made the heavens” and “established the world,” and “all the gods of other peoples are worthless idols.” He is to be “worshiped” and “glorified” in all the earth. He comes “to judge the world in “righteousness” and “faithfulness.”

The Epistle lesson begins a series of readings from 1 Thessalonians. Paul wrote to the people of this church as people God had “chosen.” They had “received the Word (of God) in much affliction” and “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” They were living now in “faith” and “love” and “hope in the (risen) Lord Jesus, who will deliver them (and us) from the wrath to come. (You can read more about Paul and the Thessalonians in Acts 17:1-9.)

The Gospel lesson is from Matthew 22:15-22. Some of the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees, and the Herodians, people who ruled on behalf of the Romans, came to Jesus with a question, hoping to trap Him and condemn His for his words. They pretended to be complimentary of Jesus, but Jesus knew they were hypocrites. The question was “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” Jesus used a coin to show that they lived in two kingdoms. In the kingdom of this world, where government is needed, they should pay their taxes and give support. Also being in the Kingdom of God, they should give God the honor and worship and trust due to Him. The questioners went away marveling at Jesus and His answer.

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 12

This week, we look at the letter to the church at Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13. The letter starts the same way as the others (Revelation 3:7). It is addressed to the “angel,” the pastor and messenger for the church. The letter contains the very words of Jesus Himself, who is “holy” (sinless and set apart to serve His Heavenly Father and His perfect will - see Luke 1:35, for example). Jesus is also “the True One.” (See John 14:6 and 1 John 5:20: “We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the True God and eternal life.”

Jesus also has “the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens." This is a quotation from Isaiah 22:22, where Eliakim, a representative of King Hezekiah, is addressed. Hezekiah, like David, had authority to open and shut things, and God answered his prayers by shutting down the armies of his enemy, the great King Sennacherib. This power to open and close passed on finally to Jesus, the Son of David, who opened up the Kingdom of heaven to us by all He did and gives some of those powers to the disciples and the church. (See Matthew 16:19, 18:15-21, and John 20:21-23, for example.) This adds to what Jesus said of Himself in Revelation 1:18, too - that He has “the keys of death and Hades.” Later on, He “opens” a scroll and its seven seals that no one else could open (Revelation 5:5). Jesus then speaks with authority to the church at Philadelphia.

Philadelphia was a city founded by King Attalus Philadephus in the 100’s BC, in honor of his brother. Our US city, Philadelphia, is named after this city, as a city of “brotherly love.”  It was southeast of Sardis in a good location and was a rich and commercially important city. As Martin Franzmann notes, the church in Philadelphia “was neither rich nor important” - but it was “faithful” to the Lord. Jesus knew its works. It had “little power” and yet its people “kept the Word of God and did not deny Christ’s Name.” (This is, in fact, the only one of the seven churches that receives no direct criticism from Jesus.) Instead, Jesus promises to this little church “an open door which no one is able to shut” (Revelation 3:8).

This will happen in two ways. In v.9, Jesus says that there was a synagogue in Philadelphia that was rejecting Jesus as the promised Savior, the Messiah. Over time, Jesus promises that at least some of these people would realize that Jesus was the Messiah and that He loved that little church, because they were speaking the truth about Him. Some of these people would then become Messianic Jews, who believed that Jesus was the One who was the Savior and the fulfillment of all of God’s promises. The witness, then, to all of those who do not yet know and trust in Jesus, needs to continue - with genuine love and care for them and their spiritual welfare.

In v.10, also, because the people of this church had kept God’s Word with patient endurance, Jesus promises to help and protect them and “keep” them during a time of trial and testing coming on "the whole world,” including the churches. Some think that this refers to the coming of Trajan as Emperor in Rome in 98 AD, with more intensified persecution of Christians (and Jews and anyone who opposed the Roman gods and Emperors as gods). This greater persecution by the Romans lasted for about 100 years and prefigured other times of persecution throughout the centuries, which Jesus also predicted, in other Scriptures, and warned, speaking of even more trouble coming in the last times. Other parts of Revelation speak of these troubled times, as well, but verses like Revelation 7:1-17, also picture the preservation of God’s faithful people.

In v.11, Jesus also said He was coming again soon. His timetable is different from ours, though, as passages like 2 Peter 3:8-9 indicate. Jesus wants His people, including us, always ready for His return, by trusting Him and trying to be faithful to His Word. He encourages the believers in Philadelphia to “hold fast what they have, so that no one may seize their crown,” the crown of righteousness and everlasting life. (See, for example, 2 Timothy 4:8.)

In v.12, then, Jesus speaks again of those who do “conquer” through Christ, through Christ’s help and strength. They will reach eternal life, the new Jerusalem, as heaven and earth as we know it pass away. They will be like “pillars” in God’s presence, with His names written on them. (Philadelphia was a place where earthquakes sometimes happened and pillars in buildings fell, with great destruction.) Such will not happen in eternal life. We are perfectly safe forever, with our Lord. The new names may be a reflection of God’s promise from heaven in Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I am making all things new,” See the promise also in Revelation 21:4. Heaven will be a perfect place.

Finally, Revelation 3:13 has the phrase written in each of the letter, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The size of our church or our community does not matter. Our trust is in our Lord and His strength and blessings for us, in Christ. We believe that He will help and preserve us, through the Word and Sacraments He gives us, and we, too, can “hold fast what we have in our Savior always, by His grace.

NEW Sermon for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost - October 15, 2023

Sermon for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 25:6-9

Philippians 4:4-13

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon originally delivered October 14, 2023

Sermon for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost - October 15, 2023

Sermon for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 25:6-9

Philippians 4:4-13

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon originally delivered October 9, 2011

Preparing for Worship - October 15, 2023

The Old Testament lesson for this week, Isaiah 25:6-9, is a prophecy of a great feast coming when the Lord has “swallowed up” the veil of death forever and there are no more “tears” of sorrow or reproach (disgrace) for His people. The Lord has spoken and promised this, and it will happen. We are to “wait” in faith for that day of “salvation” in heaven in eternal life.

The Psalm is Psalm 23. The Lord is our Good Shepherd. He “restores” our troubled, sinful “souls” and leads and comforts us all our life. He provides a “table” for us (the Lord’s Supper and His Word and other gifts) in the presence of the “enemies” of our faith; and one day, we will “dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” enjoying His great feast in heaven.

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus tells a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven being like a King (our Lord God) giving a wedding feast for His Son (our Lord Jesus). God’s Old Testament people were already invited to the feast, but they refused to come. Other servants invited them, but they went off to their own pursuits or treated the King’s servants very badly and killed some of them. The King finally destroyed many of the people and their city. (Many Jews died and Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD.) A general invitation to the wedding feast went out to everyone possible, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled. Wedding garments were provided to all (robes of righteousness in and through Jesus - the Way to heaven), but one man refused to wear his robe and was cast into outer darkness, where there is only sorrow - the way to hell, rejecting Jesus and His grace and gifts.

The Epistle lesson is the fourth reading from Philippians, Chapter 4: 4-13. Paul calls people to “rejoice in the Lord always” and to trust in the “peace” He brings through Christ Jesus as Savior. Paul knows that he can do all things he needs to do through Jesus “Who strengthens him” in this life, no matter what the circumstances. He seeks to keep in mind the honorable and just and pure things of God and His Word, which he has received and taught, as he waits for the Lord’s return and that heavenly feast.

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 11

The letter to the church at Sardis follows the same pattern as the other letters (Revelation 3:1). It is written to the “angel,” the church leader and messenger of Sardis, and it is the very words of Jesus, who is identified in Chapter 1:4 with “the seven spirits who are before the throne” in heaven - which is a way of speaking of the One Holy Spirit, who has seven-fold gifts (Isaiah 11:2) and works among all seven of the churches in Asia Minor. Jesus is also said to have “seven stars in His right hand” (Revelation 1:16), and the seven stars are the angels (the leaders and messengers) of the seven churches (1:20). Jesus is seeking to teach and guide these leaders and their churches by these letters.

The city of Sardis was about 30 miles southeast of Thyatira. It had been the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, long before the Roman control of this area. It was a city of great wealth and fame. Its high point (acropolis) was 1500 feet above the valley below. The church in Sardis had a reputation, a “name” of being an “alive” church, but Jesus says that He knows its works, and it is dead (Revelation 3:1). As He goes on, He says that the church is not completely dead, but dying, like a fire where the coals were becoming “dimmer and dimmer,” with lots of “mere ashes and dead coals,” and in danger of “the whole fire being dead,” as the commentator Lenski says. It was a “drowsy, sleepy” congregation that didn’t seem to see what was happening and needed to “wake up and strengthen what remains.” Jesus especially could see that because, as God, He found that their works were not “complete” (filled full). This does not mean that they were not doing enough works, in the sense of not doing enough to earn salvation, or anything like that. None of us can earn our salvation, no matter what we do.

Rather, good works flow from faith and confidence in Christ Himself, who He is and what He has already done for us as our Savior. Notice again a familiar Scripture like Ephesians 2:4-10, where Paul first tells us what God has done for us in Christ, by His grace alone that saves us. Only then, in v. 10, does Paul talk about the fact that we are now God’s “workmanship,” new people “created in Christ Jesus for good works” in our new life in Him. Somehow, in the church at Sardis, “the faith, love, and spiritual life” in Christ “that should have filled all their works had been growing less and less,” as Lenski says.

Therefore, Jesus says, in Revelation 3:3, that the people at Sardis needed to “remember what they had received and heard” in Christ and the Word of Scripture and the Sacraments and “keep” that strong and “repent” of their spiritual sleepiness. To use Lenski’s picture of dying coals, see how Paul said to the young pastor, Timothy, “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you… (2 Timothy 1:6) “by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus…” (2 Timothy 1:9).

How are God’s gifts “fanned into flame” in Timothy and in the people in Sardis and in us, still today? Jesus particularly mentioned in Revelation 3:1 His connection with God the Holy Spirit, who works, based on other Scriptures, through the Word of God and the Sacraments to bring people to faith and and keep them in that faith, unto eternal life. (See for example 1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 2:19-22, Matthew 28:19-20, and Acts 2: 42.) That is why it is so important that we stay in God’s Word and His good gifts, through which the Holy Spirit works in our lives. That is why the “angels” of the churches, the pastors and teachers and leaders of the churches (Revelation 3:1) need to stay in the Word, too, for their own sake and to teach and lead others in the proper way, according to God’s Word and will.

That is why Jesus also gives a strong warning in Revelation 3:3, that if the people at Sardis do not “wake up,” He will come like a thief” at an unknown hour, and “come against those people” if they are spiritually dead and don’t ever repent. As He also warns in v. 5, their names would be “blotted out of the book of Life,” because of unbelief.

The image of Jesus coming unexpectedly, “like a thief in the night,” is used numbers of times in the Scriptures, especially in regard to His second coming, on the last day or in a time of judgment. Here are some examples: Revelation 16:15, Matthew 24:42-44, and 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3. The emphasis is upon being ready and prepared by continuing faith in Jesus, whenever He comes again or when the day of death comes for each of us, whichever comes first (Matthew 10:22).

The image of “the Book of Life” is also often used in the Scripture, as a way of assuring people that their personal future is secure in eternal life, because of God’s promises and His desire to keep them in faith in Him. There are warnings that people can be blotted out of the Book by sin and rebellion and continually rejecting God and His will and plan for their salvation. Here are other Scriptures that speak of this “Book of Life,” if you would like to trace them through the Bible: Exodus 32:32, Psalm 69:29, Daniel 12:1. Malachi 3:16, Luke 10:20, Philippians 4:3, Revelation 13:8, 17:3; 20:12,15, and 21:27.

Going back to Revelation 3:4, we hear Jesus revealing that there were still some people in the church at Sardis who were faithful Christians, “who had not soiled their garments.” This is a Biblical way of speaking of sinfulness, which pollutes a person. The Bible tells us that we are all sinners. The difference for these people is that they had been brought to repentance and forgiveness and faith in Jesus as their Savior and continued in faith in a life of repentance. These are people who say with Isaiah, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). As Paul also says in Philippians 3:9, I am “found in Christ, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” His worthiness comes not from himself, but from what Christ has done for him.

In Revelation 3:5, Jesus says that such believers “will be clothed thus with white garments” and will “walk with Him in white” (Revelation 3:4) in eternal life. John sees such believers “given a white robe” in visions later on in Revelation 6:11 and 7:9, 13-14. Their robes were “washed white in the blood of the Lamb,” the sacrifice of Jesus for them on the cross to forgive all sins. These people have “conquered” through Christ and their names are never blotted out of the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5). In fact, Jesus says of such a believer, “I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (Revelation 3:5). (See how Jesus promises this to all those who are His own, in Matthew 10:32 and Matthew 25:34, too.)

In this letter to Sardis, then, Jesus is calling all of the people of this sleepy congregation to “wake up” and “repent” of their sins and their lazy response to Christ and “strengthen what remains,” through God’s Word and Sacraments. This is always possible, through Christ. When Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him three times, Jesus also said, “I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned again (repented), strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-34).

This letter, like the others, says to us all, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” We all have times of “sleepiness” in our Christianity, and none of our churches are perfect. This letter is for us, too. You might remember the closing words of Jude, when we studied his letter a while back: “In the last times there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear; hating even the garments stained by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 17-25)

Sermon for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost - October 8, 2023

Sermon for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 5:1-7

Philippians 3:4b-14

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon originally delivered October 2, 2011

Preparing for Worship - October 8, 2023

Both the Psalm and Old Testament lesson this week speak of the judgment upon the Old Testament people of Israel, because of their sin and rebellion against God. These readings tie in well the messages from the New Testament readings, too.

The psalm is Psalm 80:7-19. The earlier part of the psalm, before today’s reading, refers to three of the Northern tribes of Israel (80:2-4) crying out for God’s mercy and help, likely as they and the Northern Kingdom of Israel were being conquered by the Assyrian armies. Psalm 80:7ff., our reading, speaks of God’s people as being “a vine brought out of Egypt and planted” in the Promised Land and blessed and protected and brought to prosper by the Lord. Now, however, the walls of the vineyard (Northern Israel) have been broken down  and it has been ravaged and burned by enemies. The psalmist calls upon the Lord for salvation and restoration for His “son,” as the people of Israel are sometimes called. (See Hosea 11:1-2 and why God’s people were in such trouble.) In this psalm, though, in a prophetic way, the son refers especially to “the Son of man,” the Son of God’s right hand, our Lord Jesus Christ, who would ultimately “save” and “restore“ and give new “life,” available to all.

The Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 5:1-7, is also about God’s people as “a vineyard.” It is a “love song,” as God speaks of all that He has done for His people, His vineyard. He has done everything He could for them, now referring to the Southern Kingdom, Judah and Jerusalem; yet they have been yielding not good grapes but “wild grapes,” with “bloodshed” and “outcries” of evil against the Lord. As as result, the Southern House of Israel will also be trampled down and left a “wasteland” (by the Babylonian empire).

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 21:33-46, Jesus also tells a parable of God’s people as a vineyard. (Some of God’s people had been restored in Jerusalem and the land of Israel after the Babylonian captivity.) The “master of a house,” the Lord Himself, had built the vineyard very well and “leased it to tenants,” the people of Israel. At harvest time, He sent servants (prophets and other spokesmen for the Lord) to “get His fruit,” but the tenants seized them and beat some and killed others, and did not give Him His fruit. The owner sent other servants, and they were treated the same way. Finally, the Master sent His own Son, and the tenants did not respect even Him, and threw Him out and killed Him. What will happen to those evil tenants? They will have a miserable death, and the vineyard would be given to other tenants, who will produce and provide good fruit.” It is clear to the Jewish religious leaders that Jesus was talking about Himself as the Son of the Lord, Whom they would soon be killing, in spite of His warnings to them. Jesus also quotes from Psalm 118:22-23, saying that He would live, even after His death, and be the Savior and “Cornerstone” on whom the new people of God, who believed in Him, would be built. Those who rejected Jesus would eventually be “crushed” and “broken to pieces.”

In the Epistle lesson, Philippians 3:4b-14, Paul says that he had been one of those “persecutors” of Christ Jesus and His “church,” as described in today’s Gospel lesson. He had been an outstanding Jewish leader, with all the right background and credentials, until by God’s grace he received the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord.” All his previous “righteous acts of his own” were “loss” and “rubbish.” He had now received “the righteousness from God” that came simply “through faith in Christ” and His already accomplished “sufferings” and “death” and “resurrection.” Now Paul wanted to “be found always in Christ” and “faith in Him.” That gift of God is what we all need and have in Jesus, too.

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 10

Today we look at the letter to the church at Thyatira, in Revelation 2:18-29. Thyatira was the smallest city of the seven to whom letters go in Revelation 2-3, but its church receives the longest letter for one main reason, as we will see. Thyatira was founded by Seleucus, a general with Alexander the Great, as a military outpost around 300 BC. It was 20 miles Southeast of Pergamum and by the time of this letter was known for its many trade guilds. We hear in Acts 16:14 that it was the hometown of Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth (who became a Christian in Philippi), and it was known for its purple dyeing and weaving.

This letter begins as the others do, addressed to the “angel” (the pastoral leader and messenger) of the church at Thyatira (Revelation 2:18). The letter was written down by John, but it is clearly “the words” of Jesus, “the Son of God.” This is the only time in Revelation that this title is given to Jesus, maybe since Psalm 2 is quoted later in this letter, right after the Lord says of the coming Savior, “You are My Son” and again identifies Him as “the Son” (Psalm 2:7,12).

The other words about Jesus in v.18 are part of the vision of Him that John saw in Revelation 1:14-15. The “flaming eyes” of Jesus picture that Jesus can, as He says in Revelation 2:23, “search minds and hearts of people.” The “feet of burnished bronze” suggest His strength and “authority” described 2:26-27.

Jesus begins His specific message to this church with a great compliment. His eyes of fire can see and know their “works” and that the faithful people there are growing in “love and faith and service and patient endurance” in times of trouble, and are even doing better in living out these gifts of God than before (Revelation 2:19). This is the opposite of what Jesus had said about the church in Ephesus, where they had abandoned “the love that they had at first,” and were called to repent (Revelation 2:4-5).

However, Jesus also has a very serious concern about the church at Thyatira. “I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols” (Revelation 2:20). This sounds similar to the situation in Pergamum with some who were following the teachings of Balaam and Balak and the Nicolaitans and having problems with idolatry and food offered to idols and sexual immorality (Revelation 2:14-15). This seems to be a bigger problem, though, in Thyatira, as the false prophetess is influencing a larger number of people of the church, as Jezebel, a non-Jew, in the Old Testament was married to King Ahab and led him and many of the Israelites far from God and into worship of Baal and other false deities and much immorality. (See references to this in 1 Kings 16:31-33, 18:4, and 2 Kings 9:22.)

The church has some responsibility, too, in “tolerating” what this woman, like Jezebel of old, was doing and her “seduction” of many people. She has had “time to repent, but refuses to do so” (2:21). Sexual immorality” and “adultery with her” and mention of her “sick-bed” and “her works” all tell how she is leading this immorality and rejection of God and His will. All involved with her need to repent or there will be “great tribulation” for them, as well as for her (2:21-22). Jesus even mentions “death” for her "children" in v. 23. This probably does not mean her literal children, but those following in this woman’s evil footsteps, and influencing still others in bad ways. They will be judged, too, unless there is repentance and return to the Lord.

There is also reference in v. 24 to “what some call the deep things of Satan.” Some think that some of what was going on was an early form of Gnosticism, also. Gnostics thought that only the spiritual is important and that the material, including our bodies, were unimportant and we could do whatever we wanted with them without any harm to our spirit. The word “gnosis” means “knowledge,” and some thought that the more knowledge the better, even knowledge of and participation in evil and the satanic and the totally immoral, that they believed would gain knowledge and understanding, and yet not hurt the soul and spirit. All this was totally wrong, according to Scripture, and the opposite of God’s will in Christ. The true knowledge was always in God and His Word.

Jesus then reminds all the churches (since the message of these letters applied to all churches and they were all to have ears to hear all He said) in v.23 that He is the One who "searches minds and hearts and will give to each according to his own works.” He knows all our thoughts and deeds, and we can hide nothing from Him. If we have only our own thoughts and words and deeds to offer to God, we are all in big trouble. This is said often in the Scriptures. Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.'”

These are important words for us and our churches in our own day, too. So many people think that things like sexual morality are not a big deal, and it does not matter much what we do. These Scriptures remind us that temptations to immorality can also lead us and others far away from listening to our Lord and trusting Him, too. We need to take these passages of Law and warning seriously and hear the call to repentance, when we are drifting from the Lord and His will.

God also says, though, through Ezekiel, prophesying about Christ and His saving work for us and the gift of baptism: “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean of all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:25-27). Forgiveness and new life are always possible with the Lord.

Jesus also recognizes that there are those in Thyatira who resist false prophetesses and false teachers and are trying to keep the faith in Christ and regularly repent and trust His forgiveness and promises. He says to them and to us, in verses 24-25: “I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come.”

Jesus also gives His promises to those “conquerors” (and we have heard that that refers to those who keep trusting Christ Jesus and His saving, conquering work already done for us) who keep trying to follow Christ and His way to the end of our lives or the return of Christ, whichever comes first (2:26-28). Jesus then quotes from Psalm 2:7-9 - words that speak of Himself, the Christ, the Anointed One of God (Psalm 2:2) and His victory and authority over all things, as King of Kings. He is Savior and blesses all who take refuge in Him as Lord and Savior (Psalm 2:12). He also is One who can bring wrath, “a rod of iron,” upon those who reject Him, who are like “earthen pots that are broken.”

There is also an indication that somehow God’s people will participate in the final reign of Christ in eternal life, together with Him. We will have perfect peace with Him, after all the struggles of this life and the struggles of our churches. The authority is all Christ’s (Matthew 28:18), but we will enjoy His blessings, too. (See 2 Timothy 2:12, for example, and Romans 8:18.)

Finally, Jesus says that He will give the believers “the morning star” (Revelation 2:28). The Morning Star is Christ Himself. See the prophesy of Him in Numbers 24:17, the star that announced His coming in Matthew 2:1-12, and the clear words of Jesus in Revelation 22:18: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the Root and the Descendant of David, the Bright Morning Star.”

If we have Christ Jesus, as He promises, we have everything we need, for this life and for eternal life. And the Apostle John said it so simply in another of His letters, “I write these things to you who believe in the Name of the Son of God (Jesus Christ), that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). May the Lord keep us in that blessed gift of faith always.

Sermon for the 18th Sunday after Pentecost - October 1, 2023

Sermon for the 18th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

Philippians 2:1-13

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon originally delivered September 25, 2011