Verse For the Week

Luke 9:62 - "Jesus replied, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back if fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Weekend Sermon

   Today, I am re-posting a sermon that appeared on the blog in 2012.  I hope that it is of some benefit to you.  Next week, I will return to the regular blog schedule.  The verse of the week will appear on Monday and there will be a review on Wednesday.  A new sermon will be posted on Friday or Saturday. 

Weekend Sermon--Crowns

Revelation 4:10-- "The twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.  They cast their crowns before the throne..."

I Corinthians 3:12-15--"Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw--each one's works will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire...if the work anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward."

     In the book of Revelation, we see a magnificent scene of the worship given to Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  In an act of worship, the elders cast their crowns at the feet of Jesus.
     In a previous message, I mentioned the Judgment seat of Christ.  Paul is speaking about this in the I Corinthians passage.  All of our works will one day be judged by Jesus.  Only the good works done for Christ will remain.  Paul represents these as gold, silver, and precious stones.
     The Bible speaks about crowns that the believer in Jesus Christ can receive on the Day of Judgment.  Today, I'd like to focus on what these crowns are and the way Scripture says a believer in Christ receives them.
     Like the twenty-four elders in Revelation, it is my hope to have a crown or a treasure to lay at the feet of Jesus who is seated on His throne.
     The first of the believer's crowns mentioned in the New Testament is mentioned by the Apostle Paul in II Timothy 4:8 which states, "Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will reward to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing."
     Paul is writing here about the fact that the course of his life is almost over.  He is looking forward to Heaven and being with Jesus.  Paul lived His life to please Jesus and to obey Jesus' words.  Paul expected to be rewarded for his service and perseverance in the faith.  He longed for Christ's return, and lived each day so as not to be ashamed if Jesus were to return at any moment.
     The crown Paul mentions here is available to all believers who long for Jesus' return and live in righteousness.
     Some my say, "Don't all Christians long for the return of the Lord."  I don't think so.  At least that's not been my experience.  Many find great enjoyment doing those things contrary to Christ's teachings.  They love the tings of this world more than the values of the world to come.  Paul speaks of this in verse 10 of the same chapter in reference to Demas being in love with this present world.
     I believe that this crown is reserved for those who want Jesus to come at any moment and bring deliverance to a world of ungodliness.  The cry of their heart is, " Come quickly, Lord Jesus."
     In I Peter 5:4, Peter speaks about a crown that will only be given to pastors who faithfully serve as under-shepherds of the the Great Good Shepherd Jesus.  The verse states, "And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will achieve the unfading crown of glory."
     There are two other crowns both known as the crown of life.  James mentions one in James 1:12, and Jesus speaks of the other in Revelation 2:10.  Although both are given the same name, they are awarded for different reasons.
     The crown of life mentioned in James is given to those who remained faithful and withstood testing.
     I know that I am going through some hard tests right now both physically and financially.  My legs are in terrible pain everyday, and I can't find a job to make ends meet.  At times like these, sometimes it's hard to maintain trust in God and His promises as everything in your life just keeps getting worse and worse all the time.
    The Bible says that these times are tests.  If we are faithful, we will be rewarded.  Unfortunately, as Jesus spoke about in the Parable of the Sower, many people in the time of testing fail the test and become unfruitful.  I struggle on believing in the Lord.  Pray for me as I go through the trials I face.
     The crown Jesus speaks of in Revelation 2:10 could be referred to as the martyr's crown.  Those who give their lives in witness to Jesus will be awarded this crown on the Day of Judgment. 
     Throughout the centuries, countless thousands have given their lives for the sake of the Gospel.  All of the Apostles except John suffered a martyr's death.  Many believers died in the Roman arenas because they would not deny Jesus and praise Caesar as lord.
     In the Communist era, many believers died in Russia and the Eastern Bloc because they wouldn't deny Christ.
     Today, all across the globe, many believers face persecution, discrimination and even death for their faith.  Where would the church be today without people such as this.
     As we live in this world, let us live our lives for the glory of God.  Let each one of us strive to serve the Lord with all we have, so that our works may remain at the Day of Judgment, and then we can cast it all at the feet of Jesus who loved us and gave Himself for us so that we might be forgiven and live in His presence throughout all eternity. Amen.

Update

    I will not be posting a review today.  I will actually not be blogging for the next few days.  I plan to resume after the weekend.  For the Weekend Sermon, I will post an older sermon from when the blog first began.  Thank you.

Verse For the Week

Matthew 6:34 -- "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Weekend Sermon

     I am glad to be here posting another edition of the Weekend Sermon.  It is my hope and prayer that everyone is doing well physically and spiritually. 
     Everything seemed to be much better at work this week.  Thank you for all of your prayers about this matter.  I would ask that you pray that my health would improve some.  I've been having a lot of trouble breathing lately.
     Let us all continue to pray for those who are affected by the Ebola virus.  Pray that this epidemic will come to an end.  Let us also pray for peace in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Israel, Gaza and Ukraine.  I heard yesterday that the forces in Ukraine have signed a cease fire agreement.  I pray that it will hold, and peace can come to this region of the world.
     This past week, I heard a sermon that caused me a great deal of distress.  In this message, the minister was speaking about what the Christian's attitude to the poor should be.  I found his thoughts on the matter to be completely at odds with what is found in the Old Testament and in the teachings of Jesus.
    The basic idea of this particular man's teaching was that no Christian should give a poor person charity without expecting the poor person to earn it.  For instance, he said that if a poor person or homeless person came to the church for aid, they should only receive that aid if they first performed some type of work at the church or in the community.  He also was highly critical of the food pantries and other works carried out by so many churches here in the United States.
     This caused me to think about what the Bible says, what Jesus says about our response to the poor and needy.  This is what I would like to focus on in my message today.
     One of the most interesting references about the poor in the Bible is found in the book of Deuteronomy.  In chapter 15, the Lord God lays down the rules for cancelling of debts.  In verse 4, the Lord God says that there should be no poor person found in the land.  The people were to freely lend to their brothers and sisters even if the Year of Jubilee was near when all debts would be cancelled.
     Also in the Old Testament, God makes many provisions for the poor.  One of these is very interesting.  Those who owned fields and orchards were not to harvest all of the grain or fruit.  They were commanded to leave some so that the poor people might come and get the grain and fruit for themselves. 
     A comparable instance of this today would be the fact that corporations and the rich should not seek to maximize wealth and profits.  The needs of the less fortunate should always be paramount.
    These two instances tell me that God wanted His people to care about each other and help each other.  He didn't want people to worry about what they were going to get out of helping someone else out.  God didn't want there to be any poor people.  If those who had plenty would be generous, no poverty would exist.
    This holds true today.  There is a vast amount of wealth in this world held in the hands of a few individuals and multinational corporations.  They exploit the poor workers by paying ridiculously low wages.  The rich get richer and the poor get poorer while few in the Christian community say anything about it.
     In Ezekiel 22:29 the Lord says, "The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery, they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien denying them justice."  In God's view, not treating the poor right is the same as being a thief.
     There is too much exploitation of the poor going on in the world today with the church doing little.  The church should speak out against the exploitation of the poor that occurs through substandard wages and horrendous working conditions.  The church should speak out against the exploitation of the poor that occurs through predatory lending and exorbitant interest rates on short-term loans.  Instead of criticizing the poor and homeless, the church should be assisting the poor.  Food pantries, shelters and clothing ministries are great.  However, there needs to be systematic change in order to make a difference. 
    In the Old Testament, God instituted the Year of Jubilee and the cancellation of debts.  This would be a great place to begin in bringing about a Scriptural solution to the problem of  poverty.
    Now, let us look at what Jesus had to say about the poor.  In the Beatitudes, Jesus said that the poor where blessed and that they were the salt and light of the world.  Jesus also said that He came to preach the Gospel to the poor.
    Jesus wanted the poor to be assisted.  When Jesus had His encounter with the rich, young ruler, Jesus told him to go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor so that he might have treasure in Heaven. 
    Jesus also spoke about helping the poor and needy and how we should do it without expecting anything from them in return.  Luke 14:12-14 states, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives or your rich neighbors.  They may invite you back and you will have been re-payed.  But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed.  Although they cannot repay you, you will be re-payed at the resurrection of the righteous."
     Finally, I would like to add a few comments about teachings in the church that are similar to what Jesus faced and opposed while He was on earth.  In Jesus' day, the religious leaders believed that if you were rich, it was a sign of God's favor.  If you were poor, you were out of favor with God.  Something similar to this is often taught today.  The teaching says that God wants you to be rich and if your not you lack faith. 
     Jesus turned this whole way of thinking upside down when He told the story of the rich man and Lazarus.  As far as the religious leaders of Jesus' time were considered the rich man should have gone to Heaven and the poor man being licked by dogs should have gone to hell.  However, Lazarus went to Heaven while the rich man lifted up his eyes in torment.
     Jesus' definitive teaching about helping the poor is found in Matthew 25: 31-46.  Those who gave to the hungry, clothed the naked and took care of the sick were invited by Jesus into His eternal Kingdom.  To those who refused to help those in need and those who were oppressed Jesus said "Whatever you did not do for the least of these, you did not do it for me."
     I have a lot more that I could say about this subject, but I will leave it for another time on down the road.
     On Monday, I will post a verse for the week.  On Wednesday, I may have a review.  It depends on how I get along with my reading.  Lord willing, the Weekend Sermon will return on Friday or Saturday.  May God bless you.  Amen.

Book Review

    I've just finished reading an interesting memoir written by Pulitzer Prize winning author Gail Caldwell.  The book is entitled "New Life, No Instructions".  In this book, Ms. Caldwell writes about her time dealing with a bad hip and the after effects of childhood polio.  She also speaks about losing people in her life, grief and friendship.  On top of that, Ms. Caldwell writes about adopting a Samoyed and their relationship together.

    Gail Caldwell has written another great memoir entitled "Let's Take the Long Way Home."  This book is about the importance of friendship, and it is one of the best memoirs that I've read.

    I highly recommend both of these books.

Verse for the Week

Romans 8:1 -- "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."